By Isaac Zulu
Private Sector Development Association chairperson Yusuf Dodia has urged government not to place a premium on would be investors in Mopani Copper Mines.
In an interview, Dodia said that what is important is that companies wishing to invest in the mining sector in the country should have an investment plan that would make them held accountable for their investment.
He said that all foreign and local companies that have shown interest in investing in Zambia’s mining sector should be given an equal opportunity to bid in the mining industry.
“I think that our government should allow all companies that have shown willingness or interest to invest in the mining sector as equity partners to make offer their bids. I think that there is need for our government to encourage all stakeholders, including the former investors of KCM or Mopani Copper Mines to make a bid. We need to treat all interested parties equally. Then government should be able to assess and analyse those offers, including which offer best suits the government and the people of Zambia,” Dodia said. “But what is very important is that we need to have an investment plan that is going to acceptable to government and for the benefit of all Zambians.”
He said that what the Zambian people are yearning for is mining investment that is will make investors accountable to the general citizenry.
Dodia said that: “If they are able to give us an investment plan that should be used to hold them accountable for the investment they are making in Zambia. An investment plan that will address the issue of machinery in the mining industry, labour or human capital and a fair taxes to government. Export earnings and others, by no means of exclusion. Now, if a mining investor is able to meet those criterion, then I think that there should be no need for them to have a track record in mining.
Following the completion of the evaluation of the Asset by Rothschild a Company, the appointed consultancy company that has been offering consultancy services to ZCCM-IH to find interested parties, South African based MKP had been offered US$2.8, billion for an outright purchase and ownership of Mopani Copper Mines in Mufulira and Kitwe on the Copperbelt, though government, through the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development has not been clear over the matter.
