GOVERNMENT says it will revamp the ammonium nitrate plant at Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia (NCZ) at a cost of K20 billion before the end of this year.
Minister of Livestock and Fisheries Bradford Machila said the plant will enable NCZ to resume production of ammonium nitrate, used in explosives in mines and will meet the increasing demand for explosives by the mining sector.
Mr Machila, who is also Kafue member of Parliament, said in Kafue on Tuesday that the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry through Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) is currently looking into issues pertaining to revamping the plant.
He said the long-term plan is to ensure that the plant operates at its full capacity and produces both fertiliser and ammonium nitrate so that it performs its intended purpose of serving the mining and agricultural sectors.
NCZ has the capacity to produce 142,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser but currently produces between 20,000 and 30,000 tonnes due to lack of working capital.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
Kafue residents please don’t be foooled by this cheap propanganda. When was NCZ closed? Now it can be reopened in four months’ time? Kuya bebele ba mambala imwe.
Remember this government justifying importing fertiliser before the lastÂ
 elections?
Remember a certain Mr  Capitalist coming on here defending the undefendable?
Why now is NCZ going to be revamped? Where is that dim Dr from yesterday?
How many times is this plant going to be revamped!!!! Flogging a dead horse………
@ #2 3RqU
My memory is foggy. What exactly did I say (word for word)??
Politics aside, but this plant just need total demolition and reconstruction. Late Mwanawasa injected 20 billion into rotten metal and all when down to a bottomless pit.
Remember this is a chemical plat to suffers from massive corrosion and BULL
Same old stories from ba Daily mail. How many time really is government going to revamp this company?????????????????????
I also remember the same government saying they have identified investors to take over this company and one Capitalist on this blog was  supporting the move as it was ‘UNECONOMICAL’ to revamp NCZ but find  investors to take over. Do we have serious leaders? My guess is the ‘DEAL’ went sour. They are more than ready to  make money out such deals without caring for us Zambians the owners of those assets.
WHAT A STUPID GOVERNMENT. WHO HAVE NO PLANS THEY ARE JUST DREAMERS. NOW WE CAN HEAR THE MP FOR KAFUE. GOD hears the complaints of people whatever you will do the time has come.
These guys can revive anything during elections. They revived water supply in Chifubu/Pamodzi by-elections by hiring a pump and restoring water supply in pipes that had never seen water in years just for the election. Cockroaches and rats were coming out of the water taps in some cases but they did n’t care as long as water was coming out when they were on the platform campaigning for their candidate in the area, saying MMD was working. When they lost they cut the water supply, the water was off again and they left. I am sure they have gone to the grave to try and revive Chiluba hoping he can help. Boot them out so that we can try someone else who will soon after also be on the microscope.
The equipment in the picture is a health and safety hazard. To revive something that is in that state is a mockery to the intelligence of the citizens. Where were these guys? Why did n’t they build a new plant during their term of office? These guys need to be prosecuted for flouting heath and safety regulation. they are a disgrace.
@ #7 Mpika Boy
I still maintain that keeping this company in Govt hands is uneconomical. I still support a move to privatize it. I have not changed my stance on that issue. I support a bid to privatize Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia.
@ 11 Mr. Capitalist – 3 E’s steering economic growth. Then respond in reference to the article above giving your reasons. So what policies is Mr Machila implementing?
@ #12 Mpika Boy
What is there to respond to. NCZ as of now is still a govt asset. That does not mean it will not get sold. That also does not mean govt should neglect it. Just because I plan to sell my house does not mean I should ignore a leaking roof??
So tell me what is there to address. You can read the article and see for yourself the policies Mr. Machila is implementing. You are simply fishing for faults here.
Whatever the case, I STILL SUPPORT THE PRIVATIZATION OF NITROGEN CHEMICALS OF ZAMBIA.
Once beaten, twice shy whites say. This is yet another cahnce for those guys at NCZ to prove that they care for themselves or not. they have been cheated a number of times.
Can we just accept that the government need to revive NCZ. This may be costly but will be of great benefit to Zambians. They should then employ independent and qualified people to run it not cadres. It is important for our government to run some of the strategic companies. Â
#13 Whilst I agree that privatising the company is a solution, I am more of the view that government can inject the money and hire a management team to run the company. I think the main reason most of our parastatals fail is because of political appointments to management positions. Once that is taken out we can have management who are more business focused. People whose main goal in running a comapny is to create value for the shareholders. Today Zanaco is doing well some will say its because it was privatised, well yes, but mainly I think its because you have a management team that runs the bank as a business. The dead wood was flushed out in Zanaco same can be done for Nitrogen Chemicals.
Cont’d from 16. How possible is it for NCZ with a ready market for Fertiliser and Amonium Nitrate fail to secure financing from Banks both locally and internationally to recapitalise and rehabilitate the plant?
# 16 & 17 Lundazi Dweller . Well said. NCZ just needs good management. Financing NCZ can not be a problem. If there is political will from the ruling government, we can get finance for NCZ and revive it for the benefit of Zambians. Â
@ #16 Lundazi Dweller
In the article, we see that K20 Billion kwacha is going to be released by Govt to revamp the company. That money would have been used in some other social venture like building a school, hospital or even a road. If NCZ was a private company, it would have gone to other sources of finance to source this cash.
Whether you change management or not, one thing is lacking in a public owned company and that is “incentive”. What incentive does management have to perform better, cut costs and even perform efficiently if they know (with political will) govt can bankroll their losses. This is why public companies are inefficient. Private companies are much more efficient, less wasteful and viable. NCZ should be privatized.
IS THAT TEXTILES FACTORY STILL A PIG FARM RUN BY THE CHINESE INFESTORS?
aaaahhh! what is Capitalist saying? as MMD you have been running the government for 20yrs, who has been stopping you from privatising NCZ for it to run effeciently? whom are you blaming? Now there is the Niombo Investments, any idea about the deal?
MMD govt has failed for the past 20 yrs to run NCZ, so wat guarantee wil they assure us this time that wen they pump in more money in NCZ things wil work out…..? We are tired of listen to MMD lies & cheap properganda…..may they rest in peace if not in pieces….!!!
Kafue residents boot OUT Machila. Boot Out MMD. The elections are here and you are being fed lies. Enough is enough. Snce when id Mchila speak for you. The town sits on top of kafue River but it is dry, the taps have no water. Atase…… in the 20yrs of MMD rule NCZ has never been operational but they start it just for elections and shut it down afterwards.