Zambia Sugar

Zambia Sugar Plc

Type	Public
Traded as	Lusaka Stock Exchange:ZSUG
Industry	Agriculture
Headquarters	Mazabuka, Zambia
Area served	Zambia, Africa
Key people	Rebecca Katowa (Acting Managing Director)
Products	Sugar Sugar marketing
Revenue	1.78b ZMW (2014)
Number of employees	1,950 permanent (4,300 average 2014 including seasonal)
Website	Homepage

Zambia Sugar Plc, is a company based in Mazabuka, Southern Province, Zambia and is the largest sugar producer in Zambia. The company is listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (symbol: ZSUG)^[1] with 82% of the shares held by Illovo Sugar Limited of South Africa (a subsidiary of Associated British Foods) and the balance by institutional and private shareholders in Zambia.

Zambia Sugar Plc owns and operates the Nakambala Sugar Estate, the largest sugar operation in Zambia

Nakambala Sugar Estate

History

The Nakambala Sugar Estate was founded in 1964 by Tate & Lyle Ltd on the south east edge of the Kafue Flats at Mazabuka. By 1968 the estate was growing sugar cane on 1,680 hectares using irrigation water from the Kafue River and the sugar mill which had been moved from Tate & Lyle's failed sugar operation at Chirundu. By 1976 the estate was producing 68,000 tonnes of sugar from 6,650 hectares and by 1983 production had risen to over 90,000 tonnes of refined sugar from 9,000 hectares under cultivation.^[2]

Development of the Nakambala estate was funded by Tate & Lyle in conjunction with the Zambian Government through the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). In 1973 the Zambia Sugar Company Ltd, which operated the estate, was nationalised and IDC came to hold 51% of the shares in the company with Tate and Lyle being retained as managers. By 1984 the company was 80% owned by IDC and 11% by Tate & Lyle with the balance being held by private investors.^[2]

In 1994 Zambia Sugar Company Ltd was repurchased by Tate & Lyle along with the Commonwealth Development Corporation (CDC) as part of the ongoing Zambian privatisation program. In 1996 the company floated on the Lusaka Stock Exchange becoming Zambia Sugar Plc.^[3]

In 2001 Tate and Lyle sold its interest in Zambia Sugar Plc to Illovo who then held 89% of the company. By this time production was 209,000 tonnes of sugar.^[4]

Between 2007 and 2010 the company implemented a major expansion program and increased the area in production from 11,000 hectares to nearly 17,000 hectares and by 2010 production reached 385,000 tonnes.

Current Operation

In 2013-14 the company produced nearly 400,000 tonnes of refined sugar from 3.15 million tonnes of raw sugar cane of which 1.86 million tonnes was from the company's own fields and 1.29 million tonnes was from out-growers including 273,000 tonnes from small-scale farmers.

The company employs 1,873 permanent employees and 4,171 seasonal agricultural workers at peak periods. ^[5]

Zambia Sugar has demonstrated its commitment to the welfare of its employees and the communities in which it operates, this is borne out by the independent socio-economic assessment carried out in 2013 by Corporate Citizenship, an internationally accredited organisation, which reported that Zambia Sugar:-

• Spent ZAR 462 million (18% of total revenues and 42% of the company’s value added) on remuneration and employee benefits in 2012/13. In addition, employees receive benefits such as housing, healthcare and education allowances which also cover family members;
• Quadrupled its training budget in the last three years to reach around ZAR 10.5 million in 2012/13;
• Zambia Sugar follows best practice international standards when it comes to health and safety;
• Constructed a new medical centre, supporting employees, their dependants and local community members;
• Facilitated the construction of a maternity ward and the rehabilitation of two other wards at the government Mazabuka District Hospital;
• Invested almost ZMK31 billion supporting demand-driven social initiatives in its community in 2012/13, including:-
• investing in education through the sponsorship of schools and support of a number of other traditional and cultural ceremonies, football clubs and community projects; and
• providing clean drinking water to the 16 000 residents of the Nakambala Estate as well as delivering bulk raw water to the Water Utility firm for distribution to the town of Mazubaka’s more than 250 000 residents.

       →spent ZMK42 billion with 126 small businesses in Mazabuka during 2012/13.

• Is committed to reducing rural poverty by helping smallholder farmers to create profitable independent businesses, purchasing more than 1.3 million tons of cane generating significant revenue within the community.
• Contributed an estimated ZAR 4 billion to Zambia’s economy in 2012/13, including direct, indirect and induced impacts. This is equivalent to about 2% of Zambia’s GDP.

See also

• Zambia Sugar Open – golf tournament
• Illovo Sugar – parent company

References