CEC has announced that the company’s blueprint should deliver steady growth for the business over the coming years.
Owen Silavwe, CEC Managing Director said government efforts to create a private sector-lead economy supports the company’s effective and efficient execution of its strategy.
“The Group is in a much better position today to focus on its strategic priorities and deliver long-term economic benefits to its stakeholders in the regions where we operate,” said Silavwe.
He said the company continues to deliver on its operational and financial performance.
“We managed our network efficiently, ensuring safe and reliable delivery of energy to our customers. Financial performance remains very strong,” he said.
On the strategy, Silavwe said the company has begun to roll out key power infrastructure projects that will strengthen power supply portfolio, enhance transition to a cleaner energy future and enable CEC to move more power to places where it is required, meeting growing demand.
“We achieved good progress in addressing key historical issues faced by the business that we have reported on in previous periods.”
He highlighted that the company has resolved most of its historical issues with the exception of Konkola Copper Mines debt which remains unresolved.
“The arbitral proceedings relating to this matter, which commenced in 2021, are ongoing.”
Meanwhile the company has recently commissioned new infrastructure connecting Macrolink and Mimbula mines while the construction of power assets to connect Lonshi mine to the network is underway, with commissioning expected in 2023.
“We look ahead with optimism as we see great growth prospects based on increasing economic activity in the regions where we operate, disciplined strategy execution and the positioning of our business done over the last two years to work more collaboratively with our key partners.”
Under the new strategy punctuated with efforts to repurpose and refocus the business to capture opportunities, CEC has plans for an invest of more than US$200 million over the next three years in new transmission and distribution infrastructure and energy transition initiative to support both organic and new business growth.
“As demand for power ramps up, we need to strengthen our supply portfolio from which this demand will be reliably and affordably supplied.”
Silavwe said the company is working on delivering on a pipeline of projects that will ensure consistent delivery on operational and financial performance targets.
“We operate in an industry where the pace of change is accelerating with increased focus on decarbonisation, digitalisation, and decentralisation. Our strategy is increasingly being adapted to reflect these changes. As part of our renewables strategy, our flagship solar projects are at different stages of implementation.”
By: Francis Mumba