HARARE — ZOOM Developers Zimbabwe, an Indian owned firm in the race to take over a 150 bed hotel in Zambia is negotiating with Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines Investment Holdings (ZCCMIH) to conclude a joint venture to develop and upgrade a coal mine in Zambia’s Copper belt.
The development of the mine will be implemented in two phases, a senior executive with Zoom Developers Zimbabwe said.
The first phase would involve the upgrading and expansion of the mine, which is already operating while the second stage will involve the construction of a Mine Month thermal power station for electricity generation.
Zambia possesses substantial coal resources and has been producing coal continuously since 1967.
The bulk of the coal has come from the Maamba coal mine, an opencast operation in the southern part of the country near Lake Kariba.
The Maamba deposit and other known coal occurrences are confined exclusively to the lower Karoo Gwembe Formation, within the series of fault-controlled basins that comprise the Mid-Zambezi Rift Valley.
Zoom Developers Africa region chief executive officer, Richard Mubaiwa has been to Zambia was expected to meet management from ZCCMIH.
“There is an opportunity to invest in Zambia’s coal mining industry,” Mubaiwa said recently.
“It is an ongoing mine that we will upgrade and expand in a joint venture with ZCCMIH,” he said.
“If the deal is concluded, we will carry out the investment in two phases. The first phase will involve the upgrading of the mine.
"Under the second phase we will construct a Mine Mouth thermal power station. The idea is to mine the coal and feed it by conveyer belt into the thermal power plant.
"The same method that is happening at Hwange Colliery where coal is mined and conveyed to the Zesa Thermal power plant adjacent to the coal mine,” Mubaiwa said.
A subsidiary of the diversified Indian conglomerate Zoom Developers International, which has tentacles in 37 countries across the world including Germany, the USA, the United Kingdom and Singapore, Zoom Developers Zimbabwe, was among the final six contenders who battled to snatch a 51 percent stake in David Whitehead Textiles Limited.
The other bidders were Parrogate, Cottco, and the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC)
Mubaiwa said his group, which had a US$174,3 million net worth and annual turnover in excess of US$1 billion in 2006, were the frontrunners in the bid to take over a hotel in that country.
The group’s cotton subsidiary, Insing has invested about US$6 million into another cotton ginning plant in Rushinga, with the capacity to produce 6000 metric tones (MT) of lint per annum.
In Kwekwe Zoom Developers is constructing a ginnery with the capacity to produce 20 000 MT of cotton lint per annum.
The dilemma, however, is that while the big investors are domiciled in Zimbabwe, they have been searching for opportunities across the region, fleeing the unstable economic and political environment, coupled with the country’s increasingly hostile investment laws.
Analysts this week called government to review the unfriendly laws to encourage companies like Zoom Developers to make major investment.
READER OPINIONS
Tsikidzi • n/a Subject: n/a Mon, 24 Mar 2008 03:28:59 • This is just a confusing article done by a confused individual.
n/a • confused.com Subject: Missleading...Is this article about a Hotel or Mine? Wed, 19 Mar 2008 03:16:31 • I just wanted to get some clarification on the title of this article. As a reader I was attracted to the Statement about the take over of a Hotel in Zambia as I am involved in that field. This particlar article is misleading and it mostly talks about a Mining firm which has some attachments to a hotel...or not. There is hardly any mention of this hotel, location or name. It is important to have the core of the subject clear so as not too lose the attention of the reader.
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