By Merlyn Mwanza
Professor Oliver Saasa says he does not support government taking over the running of mining in the country as there is no living example that would demonstrate government can run state enterprises.
But Prof Saasa said it is important to be careful in terms of how state resources are sold as people may end up selling the assets for a chorus, which is even shorter than a song.
Featuring on Diamond TV’s Costa programme, Prof Saasa said the government should not have a major role in the running of state enterprises, as the track record has not been impressive in terms of how this country has managed state parastatals.
He, however, suggested the importance of empowering Zambians to have access to finance to invest, but that local investment should not preclude Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
He said for Mopani for instance, the government should not own 100 percent shares, but should incorporate a strategic investor with government having just a minor stake.
“It’s not the business of government to do business,” Prof Saasa said, adding that Zambia had not yet advanced to a situation where it would curb against interference in state parastatals. “I can’t support nationalisation of mines. We don’t have living example that would demonstrate government can run these mines.”
Mentioning the $100 million investment in the Nickel mine in Kalumbila, which he said only had s lifespan of 12 years, Prof Saasa urged that the country should move on to explore the other economic sectors such as Agriculture to survive the time when the mining resources will be depleted.
He further wondered why the country was still exporting raw copper, instead of attracting investors to invest in the manufacture of goods from the resources, welcoming initiatives to commence manufacturing of car batteries from the local resources.
Responding to one of the callers who expressed disappointment for saying that Zambians liked calling investors names, yet the owners of Vedanta were boasting of making $500 million profits after only buying KCM at $25 million, which has made people angry, Prof Saasa said his argument was that local investment must be encouraged, saying he also had issues with how KCM behaved and it also raised moral issues with how the deal was done.
He urged caution in how state resources were sold off.
“If you are not careful you may end up selling your assets for a chorus, not even a song,” said Prof Saasa during a TV programme monitored by Daily Revelation Media.
