The National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) has bought an 8% stake in MTN Zambia through a share placement.
This was confirmed in a statement released by NAPSA on Wednesday.
Despite NAPSA being a public pensions fund, no financial details of the transaction have been released hence it’s unclear how much NAPSA has paid for the 8% shares in MTN Zambia.
NAPSA Director General Yollard Kachinda said “Zambia has in the recent years seen some significant growth in mobile telecommunications and digital technology.”
“Mobile data has transformed the way people conduct their day to day activities such as buying and selling of products and services. A mobile phone is no longer just a tool of communication, but an important component in trade and commerce and it is helping to reshape the way we conduct business,” said Mr. Kachinda.
The Director General said the extension of network coverage to remote areas was enhancing financial inclusion by extensive mobile money usage.
“Because of the increased network coverage across the country, people can easily send and receive money. This is helping people to access some of their basic needs, including food and health services without having to move long distances to access their money.”
He reiterated the importance of the development of telecommunications technology in pension administration.
“For us at NAPSA telecommunications technology has not only helped us to drastically improve service delivery to our members through introduction of mobile-based services but has also enhanced efficiency in the overall management of the scheme, leading to increased customer satisfaction. The technology has greatly helped us in extending social security coverage to the informal sector by simplifying the onboarding and payment processes. It is for this reason that we have put telecommunications as a key growth sector in our investment strategy,” he said.
And MTN Zambia Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bart Hofker said, “MTN Zambia’s partnership with NAPSA was a demonstration of the shared vision with the Zambian government to make MTN a truly Zambian owned company and to continue to contribute to the Zambian economy.”
He said, “MTN Zambia is committed to partnering with local shareholders to ensure that the benefits of our investment in Zambia are shared with Zambians and we have now become truly Zambian.”
He added, “As part of our undertaking to the Zambia Information Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA), 8% of our shares are now held by NAPSA and this was done through a private placement process. As MTN Zambia, we are always looking out for innovative ways of giving back to our citizens because we realise that, in this highly competitive industry, Zambian citizens are more than key and they are simply the reason for our success as MTN Zambia,” said Mr. Hofker.
The MTN Zambia CEO further stated that MTN was contributing to government’s vision of achieving universal access and financial inclusion through usage of a broad range of quality and affordable financial services that meet the needs of individuals, enterprises and business.
MTN Zambia is owned by MTN International and for many years it has been attempting to offload some shares through a private placement to Zambian institutions.
Our pension contributions
My money that I will not see it’s benefit to me!
Buy shares in Zamtel don’t play with our money.i think the board and management at NAPSA should be fired with immediate effect.they are unpatriotic and unzambian.
Honestly using people’s money this organisation is shit
Mubuka Longwe Kasengele its what pension funds do,invest the money to grow the fund,what good would it be to just keep cash at the bank?
Welcome move but now let’s hear from the Boy and armchair experts.
Externalisation of our money ?.
Next gold mines fast fast
But how was the share valuation determined? Who carried out the valuation? And what was the price per share anyway? MTN is not really that customer-focused. Regulation by ZICTA is just not up to scratch as the regulator’s main mandate is snooping on mobile phone subscribers.
To be honest, this investment is much better than building shopping malls that have less than 50% occupancy…meanwhile the employees at NAPSA get huge salaries which retirees can only wish for. NAPSA need urgent reformation and hopefully the new government will do it.
Well done. Try to keep the profits in Zambia.
If ZESCO was working like NAPSA, things wouldn’t have been based on tariff adjustment all the time because it would have been making profits which can be seen too.
Peneshi George Kafubu zesco went with chimbia.
Bridget Mary Tengler ? ? ?
“Despite NAPSA being a public pensions fund, no financial details of the transaction have been released hence it’s unclear how much NAPSA has paid for the 8% shares in MTN Zambia.”
If you have any MPs with brains or sober citizens get this information…this is not their money to keep such information away from the public domain.
Why not invest people’s money back in the local and wholly Zambian owned companies like #Zamtel?
8% in MTN Shares is a lot of money …this is another reckless decision by this clueless directors…busy playing with monopoly with peoples money.
Looks like a good move by Napsa…. at least some of the profits will remain within our country
But it is reported they have bought 8% shares using the company’s balance sheet you can find out how much the 8% Is worth. I’m not ana accountant though
Well that shows exactly what this govt thinks of their own parastatals. they could not invest in Zesco, or zamtel that says a lot. its time we did a citizens audit on NAPSA.
Acquisition of 8% stake in MTN is not enough for a pension scheme like NAPSA anything between 20 and 25%b would have made sense. An 8% stake will not bring a lot of benefits to he pensioners. Napsa needs to shade more light so that we can do our own assessments on the transaction.
Ba pompwe…stealing dead peoples’ money. God will strike you with lightening
The way these guys are splashing our pensions contributions on any skirt they see in town, is just mind bewildering.
at the end of it they will decide for me what they will be giving every month as a pensions, instead of give me all my money at once.
Let this yield great benefits to all NAPSA members not just a few selected individuals
Don’t damn NAPSA. Investing in MTN doesn’t stop them investing in other corporations. Wht is important is to find out if they paid a fair price for the shares or if it makes sense to sink money in illiquid assets in the face of rising inflation. Has Zamtel ever invited NAPSA to consider buying shares in the company? If u don’t know the answer to the question, it would be premature to accuse them of not supporting state-owned companies. MTN has been very profitable so their shares would be more attractive than those of companies that hv not declared any dividend.
mtn and Airtel should think of private individuals being evolved into these stakes/shares ??? It is called impowering the nation. and there is a reason why.
Pay the pensioneers as well imwe bambuli
We seem to have short memories…. Sometime back MTN was supposed to float shares for all to participate, they did not and all went quiet…! And now this..! Why not compel them to float shares on the LSA? What are the regulators doing?
Meant LuSE
Raphael Miti wamona
Siku Nash banipaseko zanga ine nikadyele pa xmas. I will resume later on ???
but why are they using our money.how wil they profit form doing so?
thy need to safe keep our money.
Excellent move Napsa, any serious minded business should know that Telecoms is where to invest. And it’s good that Napsa is investing. But I can already see some minds saying why not invest in Zamtel. Was it not only last year that Zamtel had a loss of 4 billion kwacha and now Napsa should be taking their money there? No, you invest where you see returns coming and I am sure Napsa did a due diligence before arriving at the decision.
Thanks Napsa. That’s how pension funds operate globally. They look for companies that can give them returns and they invest. Bravo Napsa
Yes, this is an excellent deal. Why should napsa go and put money in Zamtel which had a 4 billion kwacha loss last year, is that the way you want the pensioners money to be handled. You do a due diligence. And you invest where you expect returns
I have always wondered why we have allowed people whose brains have taken an indefinite leave to be managing our pension money.
Can you imagine that these *****s used our money to build what appears to be a white elephant at freedom park in Kitwe and named it after a temporary resident without our consent?
Ba Lusaka times surely u luck investigation journalism its. Stupid from your side give a incomplete statement not there is a lusaka stock exchange in Zambia now and u have the right .