By Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba
President Hakainde Hichilema directs NAPSA to lend $300million to a foreign-owned company, Maamba Collieries Limited.
● ZESCO recently settled $500 million owwd to Maamba. Why did not Maamba Collieries invest in the second phase but repatruated the funds back to Asia?
● Why is President Hichilema forcing public institutions and public resources to finance private operations?
Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba wrote;
At his last Press Conference, President Hakainde Hichilema revealed that he was spending “sleepless” nights to find solutions to the current energy crisis.
He revealed that he had found and resolved the financing for Maamba Collieries by speaking and bringing together local banks and pension houses.
He also announced other measures such as the unbundling of ZESCO and separation and removal of its highly valuable transmission and distribution infrastructure network from ZESCO.
Red alert!
Maamba Collieries Limited needs $300 million in financing for the construction and installation of a new 300-megawatt power plant as part of its Phase 2 expansion project.
On Wednesday, NAPSA announced that this significant development is scheduled to commence in August 2024, with completion anticipated by July 2026 and that NAPSA will contribute $300million towards the project.
Maamba Collieries Limited (MCL) is the largest coal mining company and Independent Power Producer in Zambia. It is a subsidiary of Nava Bharat (Singapore) Pte. Limited which holds a majority equity stake of 65%. The balance equity is held by ZCCM Investments Holdings Plc.(35%).
The challenge is that Maamba Collieries can not find international financing for a new coal-fired power plant
Coal is responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than any other fossil fuel, making it one of the largest contributors to climate change.
Therefore, financing for these coal operations are no longer widely available or attractive from the private sectors and bank.
Financial institutions are therefore not willing to finance coal or have adopted new policies restricting financing for coal.
There is now real fear that with new United Nations and other international environmental protocols, unabated coal power plants and mines face the risk of becoming stranded assets as the global economy moves toward decarbonization and green energy.
I can hazard a guess that banks such as ABSA, Standard Chartered, Citi Bank, Standbic and other international banks based in Zambia will not touch that financing, no matter how lucrative the business proposal from Maamba Collieries maybe.
President Hichilema knows these challenges.
That’s why he stepped and forced NAPSA to fund Maamba Collieries Limited for its second expansion.
What I find troubling is that ZESCO recently settled the $500million outstanding debt it owed Maamba Collieries. Why did Maamba Collieries choose to repatriate these monies back home than invest in the second phase?
Why are we risking public funds to finance private foreign-owned operations? The controlling stake for Maamba Collieries is foreign.
What is President Hichilema’s interest in Maamba Collieries?
I have expressed concerns that President Hichilema is using the current power crisis to sneak in private and multi-national interest by unbundling of ZESCO, taking away its transmission and distribution network infrastructure and subjecting this to open access.
President Hichilema also ordered NAPSA to lend $300million to chinese-owned Macro-Ocean Investment Consortium owned by a group of Chinese Companies, headlined by Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC International) and China Railways Seventh Group, to build the Ndola-Lusaka Dual Carriage Way.
These instructions also resulted in Workers’ Compensation Fund Control Board contribute another $100million to the project.