Zambia to build $548m cement plant

7th July 2017

By: Reuters

  

Font size: - +

LUSAKA – Zambia will build a $548-million cement plant in a joint venture between the nation's mining investment arm and China's Sinoconst, President Edgar Lungu said on Friday, as it aims to diversify the economy to reduce reliance on copper mining.

Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCM-IH) and Sinoconst will raise financing for the project from local and international financial institutions, Lungu said.

Zambia's is Africa's No.2 copper producer and the industrial metal is the main foreign exchange earner and a key employer.

But the southern African nation has been trying to diversify away from mining to insulate itself from commodity price shocks by investing in other areas including agriculture.

Lungu said the plant - to be built in Ndola in Zambia's copperbelt, about 400 km north of Lusaka - would be completed in three years and create roughly 1 000 jobs at construction stage.

"The copperbelt being a largely mining province and with the cyclical nature of this industry that has affected job security, I believe this project could not have come at a better time," he said.

The plant will have a daily output of 5 000 t of cement and will also have two 20 MW coal-fired power plants to provide electricity to the facility, Lungu said.

Edited by Reuters

Comments

The content you are trying to access is only available to subscribers.

If you are already a subscriber, you can Login Here.

If you are not a subscriber, you can subscribe now, by selecting one of the below options.

For more information or assistance, please contact us at subscriptions@creamermedia.co.za.

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION