President Hakainde Hichilema today graced the 60th anniversary celebration of Zambia Sugar PLC, commending the company for reaching this significant milestone. As one of Africa’s leading sugar producers, Zambia Sugar has become a beacon of investment, growth, and job creation, contributing to the country’s economy and impacting global markets.
Speaking at the event, President Hichilema highlighted the parallel between Zambia Sugar’s achievements and the nation’s 60th Independence Anniversary, positioning the company as a success story to emulate across other sectors. He emphasized the importance of the company’s outgrower scheme, which has empowered numerous smallholder farmers around Mazabuka, and encouraged the continued expansion of the program to benefit even more farmers.
In light of the country’s ongoing energy challenges, worsened by drought conditions, the President praised Zambia Sugar for its innovative approach to energy production. The company currently generates 40 megawatts of electricity and is working to increase capacity by an additional 60 megawatts, which would bring their total production to 100 megawatts—enough to contribute surplus energy to the national grid via ZESCO.
President Hichilema also challenged the company to explore new methods of processing molasses from its liquid state into pellets, making it more accessible to livestock farmers. He further urged Zambia Sugar to prioritize local employment and contract opportunities to promote skills transfer, aligning with the government’s broader call for investors to foster local empowerment.
The President’s engagement at the event underscores the importance of sustainable business practices and inclusive economic development, as Zambia continues to position itself as an attractive destination for investment.
How I wish he could stop gallivanting and stay at his office to sort out the urgent crippling blackouts. Priorities…, priorities…, priorities…
Campaigning dictates you go out and about
How can one appreciate something like blackouts if one has never experienced it ??
Let all these companies doing fine plough a percentage back to the community.This applies to mines as well.Let them also generate their own power so zambians can
Benefits the little power from our plants.
Moto go and see what QFM, Trident or Zambia Sugar has done for the surrounding communities.
What I personally think should happen, is come up with sustainability programs to compliment the social responosibitly programs that these companies have tried to do.
The reason I suggest so is, remember what happened after privatization on the copperbelt. The shift from public ownership to private hand left a “terrimor” in the community as the companies and industry was built around the mining sector. Any shift in that sector will have a ripple effect on the community and we have to create sustainable sectors that are not dependent on the core sector.
The picture tells the whole story. There is Mr Chembe river canal and Mr Leadership. Two loadshedding failures in one picture. I will not even talk about fuel, mealie meal or Kashasu coz I will be wasting my time.
How do you expect Companies to generate their own power
This is archaic thinking
If you want a solution chase all foreign own companies and let go back to village mentality and come forward at our own pace and culture.
These Companies are here to make profit for their shareholders if a bad deal was set up in the past or present don’t blame them but useless GRZ
What happened to the shares that Zambians bought in the old Zambia Sugar Co.? Most of those people are dead.
But the shares are not. They have either been transfered to the families of the owners or been sold to other new owners. The beauty of corp goverance…ownership doesnt end when the person dies….
All what is not working now, worked when this beautiful country got it’s independence.
Sad that all GRZ that came in after the initial GRZ were/are chimbwi no plan… No mitigating plans for anything, even natural disasters such as drought, floods and here we are. From the frying pan into the fire as the years go by.
What are we even celebrating? Poverty?
You hit the nail on the head
Everything we get or inherit we destroy starting with UNIP
He forgot to mention that power production at the company is seasonal
Mr Chembe river and Mr leadership all in one picture. Kings of the moment while the economy of the country is worse than in 1964.
Kainde the hard working presido we have ever had since 1964. Busy at work, he just completed the LSK-Ndola dual carriage way, the new city Sata proposed to build… mmmm eeeh yeah… kikikiki yaba, wina azalila.. just saying so that upnd ba mveleko mushe.. kikikikiki
How Zambians forget easily. What about reports of tax evasion raised by a certain NGO, I think it was ActionAid, not too long ago? How this country Zambia sucks! In Europe, it was private citizens that brought Google to pay its fair share of tax to the Irish state and the European Court was persuaded. The Irish government laughably sided with Google!
What about this and what about that ??
Also the world is cutting back on sugar due to servere health issues and added stress nn the health authorties
and here we are promoting sugar !!!
@Tikki the dangerous sugar is the ultra-processed variety. I dont think the workers at Nakambala and the surrounding community who always eat the canes have different levels of diabetes than other Zambians. At the same time remember the mollasses can be used to produce rum and safer sweeteners.
And believe it or not we are sitting on gold because sugar can give us electricity!
Mollasses can produce bioethanol which can then be converted into energy. Lets have more plantations. What happened to the Bangweulu sugar project?
Lusaka Times has been down-graded to levels of economizing on reporting full news accounts. The visitation to Mazabuka included two prominent Luapula MPs etc. who were knowledgeable of how political devils inflicted havoc at the funeral of Kambwili’s brother in Chingola. These same MPs know the fate of Chitotela, Chilangwa and GBM under the current environment. Which true “son or daughter” of Luapula Province will ever forgive PF MPs who fraternize with leaders that inflict torture on the innocent people from northern Zambia?
The presence of Dr. Chilufya in Mazabuka is absurd. The Doc displayed extreme insensitivity taking into account (1) how barbaric cadres disrupted mourners at the funeral Kambwili’s brothers in Chingola; (2) and the imprisonment of Hon. Chilangwa, Hon. Chitotela and Hon. GBM on fake charges All Luapula MPs must strive to develop the Mununshi Banana Estate, the Mansa-based sugar industry, and the Kawambwa Tea Estate. Dr. Chilufya must emulate the intellectual prowess of Medical Doctors, such as Dr. Nkosazana Zuma and Dr. Arukana Chihombori who fight to defend the plight of their respective nationals. Ba Doc, “mwadena”.