ZAMBIA’S state-controlled ZCCM Investments Holdings has agreed to sell a 55% stake in Ndola Lime to privately held Chinese conglomerate Wonderful Group of Companies for $25m, with the buyer also extending a $5m loan to the business.
The transaction is intended to revive the lime and cement operation, which entered insolvency in 2018, said Bloomberg News on Wednesday citing an announcement by ZCCM.
The deal adds to a growing list of Chinese investments in Zambia’s resources and industrial sectors, and reflects how the country’s mining recovery is generating downstream opportunities in areas such as copper processing and construction materials.
Wonderful Group has become one of Zambia’s largest conglomerates since its establishment in 2011, with interests spanning fertiliser production, tile manufacturing and silk farming, among other ventures, said Bloomberg. The Ndola Lime acquisition represents its latest expansion in the southern African country.
Zambia has been working to attract fresh capital into its mining and allied industries following a prolonged period of economic difficulty and sovereign debt distress.
Copper output has been recovering, and the government has signalled ambitions to significantly lift production over the coming decade, a target that has drawn renewed attention from investors, particularly from China, which dominates global copper processing and consumption, the newswire said.
ZCCM, which holds stakes across a range of Zambian mining and resources assets on behalf of the state, has been actively seeking partners to recapitalise dormant or underperforming investments in its portfolio.
