Various stakeholders on the Copperbelt province have welcomed the Presidential commitment and encouragement on the government’s stance to unlocking opportunities for local suppliers and contractors in the mining sector.
President Hakainde Hichilema while addressing scores of residents at Kitwe’s Chaganamai grounds yesterday did indicate that government is working on unlocking Konkola and Mopani Copper mines to create jobs.
And the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) describes the move as ‘welcome’ as it is something local Small and Medium Enterprises has been longing for a long time.
ZAM President, Ashu Sagar has emphasised that the starting point is to allow participation of local contractors and suppliers in the creation of mineral resource value chains.
Mr. Sagar said the pronouncement by the Head of State is a solution to the problems that local contractors and suppliers have been facing when it comes to the participation in the mining sector.
He adds that prioritizing local suppliers and contractors as indicated by President Hichilema will supplement the new administration’s plans to resuscitate the economy.
Mr. Sagar has also described the state of roads leading to key borders posts on the Copperbelt as hindrances to meaningful trade.
The roads will enhance flow of trade between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) which he states is the major market for Zambia’s manufactured goods.
“As a manufacturing sector, we rely on these border posts to take our goods to Congo which is one of the major markets, I think this is a very welcome move by the President that we have the roads worked on, as soon as possible” Mr. Sagar said.
President Hichilema yesterday assured Copperbelt residents that the Ndola-Mufulira and the Chingola-Chililabombwe-Kasumbalesa roads have already been prioritised and will be worked soon.
Mr. Sagar states working on the roads coupled with the framework to have all borders in the region operating on a 24 basis will reduce the turnaround time for the transporters.
Meanwhile, Ndola District Chamber of Commerce President, Paul Chisunka says there is need to ensure a portion of mining investments is allocated to Zambian suppliers and contractors.
Mr. Chisunka added that mines and government remain the biggest buyers of products and services in the country and that allowing Zambians to access supply opportunities will enhance economic activities across the various sectors.
One of the reasons our people are not able to do business with the mines is DISHONESTY. There’s a lot of collusion between the company employees and suppliers/ contractors where companies pay for services that have not been full filled or done in a shoddy manner. The mine owners have taken advantage of this as an excuse to buy material from their country of origin. Let’s do honest business.
Having said this I will conclude that ACTION SPEAKS LOUDER THAN WORDS
Unlocking opportunities without corruption? Zambians don’t KNOW how to do honest business, always applying short cuts, stealing left right and center, lying all the time. Not going to work.
GRZ, tapaba nsoni means don’t be bashful to reach out to the United Kingdom and the United States to help you strengthen your formal sector. There’s lots of data generated from the formal sector for you to print more money and collect back. I think that should be your drum beat.
What you need to do most is to identify your intellectual properties. If you don’t know your intellectual properties Study Sir Roland “Roy” Welensky.
Let the private sector create jobs.
GRZ is full of Envy of private sector.
A more sensible thing would be to establish local manufacturering for all products constantly supplied from SA to the mines………..
Thanking a f00l who presided over the undervaluation of our mines and parastatals during privatisation, which has led to our economic demise. You are all f00Is
@Daniel : Your comment clearly shows that you havent been to Africa in a very long time. Full of hallucinations, i hope you are not a lady cos then i wud forgive you as you cud be been on Periods or something. The future of Africa does not lie in those high school or Cambridge University of formal sector,Properties or whatever the nonsense u trying to say. Come back with that attitude here and you wont get employed. What are you going to formal sector if you dont even have a factory that manufactures toothpicks here? you do on with Intellectual properties? Are you mentality ill bro? The topic above here is about contractors-Come here,go to the miners and tell them abt your formal sector and see if a hammer willl miss your skul.
It’s extremely dangerous to trust a liar..
@6 don’t know who your parents were and where you went to school to attack someone with the alias name is uncalled for in our Republic Zambia.
Don’t think I’m not aware of people full of envies when I’m writing these things I’ve never hidden and I never will. Because I believe in ideas, abstracts, probabilities And inevitable.
A more workable action would be to re-arrange the shareholding structure of these mining houses so that ownership is shared between the foreigners and ourselves through govt.
That’s the only way to influence and change policy direction of these companies.
Govt can’t dictate to a private company as to whom they should get their procurement requirements from.
The second issue is that Zambia’s manufacturing sector is almost dead. So most requirements are imported anyway.
LT, you are becoming boring. Moderating even comments without any foul language or insults day in and day out!
And yet you allow openly tribal comments to appear on your platform.
What’s going on?
Are you upnd or pf supporter?
Well guys, look its very simple, those who want instant results from the president, they can easily get those results on their own – they dont need GRZ to achieve things after all. And most of them complaining are actually PF and HH did not for a single promise anything to a PF cadre. So excuse you mwankoles. The promises were made to Zambians and Zambians themselves are not complaining so there people who are complaining on media sites-who are they?
By now people should know that Pungwa ia all talk but zero action. Pure beans this.
@Kaizar Zulu
Can you explain what value you would have placed on the loss making mines and parastatals that had collapsed under the weight of communist inconsistency and inefficiency?
The 1990s privatisation and it’s aftermath……….in terms of its impact.