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.
As I keep saying, the tribalist conman is serving the interests of his foreign LGBT masters.
He has no shame at all, and must be removed from office.
Utter rubbish.
Vote wisely in 2026.
You and your Defunct TuPF crimminals are the hardcore tribalists and conmen who gave money to banamakwenkwe and all sorts of cadres
Because of your stupidity you even swore yourselves into power as if there’s no constitution. You’re now going to dance pelete
Vote wisely vote for HH7 in 2026/31
Floppy Mwamba, where is Maamba Collieries domiciled? which country does it service? which nationals are employed by Maamba?, is Maamba a company that does not exist in Zambia?
Sometimes when you look at the arguments that this slide faced person brings forward, you begin to question his credentials, for starters what is the qualification of this individual is?. if at all he does have a qualification then that qualification is betrayed by his Sloopy thinking.
Every time Mr. Mwamba writes an article, it shows how ignorant he is about the issues he writes about. For starters, the money NAPSA is putting in Maamba Collieries is an investment not a charity meaning NAPSA will reap profits from the deal. Secondly, he talks about coal powered electric plants not being viable, again this is very far from the truth. Just to enlighten him, China has about 50% of it’s electricity generation powered by coal and in 2023 it approved over 114 gigawatts (GW) new coal powered stations to be installed so I don’t know where he getting his information that coal plants are not viable. Also Germany has over 23% of powered plants for his electricity generation so coal powered plants are not going anywhere any time so since there is no other viable alternative at the moment.
Thirdly, just because $500million was paid to Maamba collieries does not mean the money had no other use. Does he know if the company also had debt or other expenses it needed to settle?
In addition, judging from his writing, one can see that Mr. Mwamba has very limited knowledge about business and how things work in the business world.
Furthermore, he says the company is foreign owned, what about the 35% owned by ZCCM-IH, doesn’t that account for anything? It seems Mr. Mwamba is a sadist and does not want to see anything good for the country so he always devices ways of talking bad about it because a normal person would be happy that measures to mitigate power deficit in the country are being implement but instead he finds something to complain about, how sad.
Maamba Collieries Ltd holds a licence from the Zambian state to do business in this country. It’s therefore a legitimate business. The question should therefore be, ” are legitimate businesses allowed to borrow in Zambia regardless of their ownership”? The answer is yes. So what’s the problem? NAPSA is lending money for a reasonable return and that’s a good thing.
NAPSA lent 200m dollars not 300m
Mr. Mwamba you are really a concerned citizen and you really have wide knowledge on government and private operations. Please keep informing the public they are listening and they will act at an appropriate time. These tribal praise singers who even hide their identity even when they are ruling will regret one day. NAPSA should be investing in companies wholly owned and controlled by true zambians not companies with foreign interest no no no such companies should be bringing capital into zambia from outside zambia
For real? Seriously that is your conclusion to what Mwamba suggests? Lawd help us.
Seems any half truths that Mwamba throws are factual in your opinion?
I can only reiterate what I said yesterday about the man who cant understand the criminality in his own actions….