By Chinoyi Chipulu
Finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane says ZCCM Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) must deliver bigger dividends in the near future on account of positive copper production, this after the company handed over a dividends cheque of K41.6 million to the Ministry for the financial year 2023.
Speaking during the presentation ceremony at the Ministry in Lusaka yesterday, ZCCM-IH company chief executive officer Dr Vibetti Ndoba said to date, the total dividends paid to all ZCCM-IH shareholders exceeded K1.6 billion since 2015.
Dr Ndoba said these developments would make a substantial contribution to the country’s economic growth and aligned with the government’s vision to elevate the country’s yearly copper production to 3 million metric tonnes by 2032.
“I am pleased to be here today to hand over a dividends cheque of K41.6 million to the ministry which holds a 17.4% stake on behalf of the Zambian government. On Monday, we delivered two dividend cheques totaling K182 million to other stakeholders, the Industrial Development Corporation and National Pension Scheme Authority,” he said.
He said their capacity to distribute these dividends to shareholders stemmed from the company’s consistent positive performance anchored on resilience and profitability for almost a decade.
“We remain optimistic about the future outlook for ZCCM-IH, largely. This is largely anchored on various productive activities within our portfolio companies in which this company holds interest. These activities relate to expansion projects to increase the production,” he said.
And Dr Musokotwane who received the cheque, expressed delight at the dividend payout, commending ZCCM-IH for its profitability and hard work.
“It is always nice to receive dividends out of government’s investment. The investments were made so that dividends can be paid. On behalf of the Zambian people, I want to say that the money will be looked after carefully,” he said.
Dr Musokoswane however, said the ministry was looking forward to receive bigger dividends in the near future considering the positive copper production.
“We are grateful for this cheque but we are looking forward to even bigger cheques in the future, because ZCCM obviously is a big company, within that company you have entities. You have mentioned companies like Kansanshi Mines, Mopani Copper Mines, Konkola Copper Mines, First Quantum Minerals among others, all these are big companies where ZCCM-IH has interest,” he said.
Dr Musokotwane emphasised the need for increased participation of ZCCM-IH in the mining sector, especially in strategic and critical minerals.
“Government has worked hard to pull these assets away from continuous mitigation. That is why the President was saying mining was not happening underground, mining was taking place in courts. Suing each other, taking each other to court, case after case, and while that was happening, production was falling down and down,” he said. “Those processes are now over, so we look forward to the expansion of all the mining companies because the more they produce, the more the dividends they pay. And on top of that, the more the taxes they pay. So this is why we worked very hard the last two to three years to make sure investment takes place.”
He urged the company to be more creative and dedicated in turning their institution towards sustained viability and profitability.
“With all this, I’m confident that the cheques you will be delivering will be getting more bigger and bigger,” said Dr Musokotwane.
