Construction of a new cement plant in Ndola by ZCCM-IH will start in April, says chief executive office Pius Kasolo.
Dr Kasolo said the two-year project would be established at Ndola Lime Company and once completed would produce 5,000 tonnes of cement a day and that financing for the new cement company had already been secured.
He explained that the plant would be self-sufficient in electricity as it will have a 52 megawatt power plant constructed alongside the main project.
Dr Kasolo said the project which would lower prices of cement once production started was on course and that construction and ground-breaking would start in April.
“The project will take about two years to complete and it is a good way of diversification and good for the Zambian people because cement will be cheap,” he said.
“Our cement will be much cheaper and people can start building in a big way, and Zambia will be industrialised.
“In the countries like China and South Africa where cement is cheaper, people are more developed,” he said.
Dr Kasolo said that the diversification programme was part of ZCCM-IH’s rebranding from a mining company which the institution had continued to be associated with.
