INVESTMENT ZCCM’s successor has a key role in sector’s development
Smoothing the way

George Chibuye Chairman of ZCCM-IH “We are keen to work with investors”	William S. Musama Company Secretary at ZCCM-IH “There is the potential for rapid growth”

Once the most powerful company in Zambia, Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) used to generate 90 percent of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and employed 37,000 people. Since its mining and other assets were sold off, however, it has reemerged in an important new role.

ZCCM has transformed itself into ZCCM Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH), an 87.6 percent government-owned investment holding company with minority shareholdings in all the mining companies on the Copperbelt.

ZCCM-IH is no passive stakeholder, however. It monitors and contributes to the performance of the industry – for example, by providing technical assistance or facilitating the sourcing of short term funding to finance rehabilitation work.

“We are there to promote the smooth working of the companies,” explains Chairman George Chibuye. “We feed into the various ministries to see that everything goes as smoothly as possible in order to maximise returns.”

ZCCM-IH is constantly on the lookout for partners in the production of copper, gemstones and coal. “We are very active as an investment company, packaging and showcasing projects for people to come in,” says Mr Chibuye.

“Each new project is unique and is looked at in its own right. The investment agreements that we make with investors need to be tailor made.”

He highlights ZCCM-IH’s involvement with First Quantum Minerals in the Kansanshi copper mine, in which it has a 20 percent stake. “The relationship is mutually acceptable and is a very good example of the coexistence we can have with whoever comes here.”

Another of ZCCM-IH’s important functions is to implement the Copperbelt Environment Project (CEP), which is aimed at mitigating the environmental hazards left in the wake of ZCCM’s privatisation.

In time, the government aims to reduce its stake in ZCCM-IH. “The intention is that we move into the second stage of privatisation, where the government is likely to dispose of a substantial part of its shareholding,” says Company Secretary William S. Musama.

“Ultimately, they may remain majority shareholders, but that majority could easily be below 15 percent, so this is a company for real investors.
“When the balance sheet is restructured, we will see a situation where the company has quite a substantial sum of money, because our cost profile is low. There is a lot of potential for this company to grow at a really fast rate.”

Nor does ZCCM-IH need to confine itself to the mining sector, says Mr Musama. “We are very much ready to start diversifying our portfolio.”