What Is Value Addition in Our Mining Sector

I love to hear people talk about value addition in the mining sector. There is a smooth flow of joy with that topic. Why?

Value addition will entail we export the products of the mines at high value. We then get good returns on the produce. This is compared to the current situation where we export "soil" or concentrates at very low value and get little to no return at all. So value addition is the way to go.

But what shocks me is the famous "value addition" direction we have. Seriously, smelting and refining to me is not value addition to sing songs about. There is a value that has been added in the process, but for that to lead to no export duty is a miss-placed thought. If our export duty is to gain returns on the items being export, we should maintain an amount of export duty on these items since they are products of the mining sector which in all fairness, is a wasting asset. In addition, we should now look at the idea of encouraging and developing manufacturing or fabricating industries/ infrastructure that will move that cathode, copper blister or anode to a wire, a circuit, a electronic component, etc. These are the items that we can produce and gain meaningful returns on.

What good will the export of anodes and cathodes bring to us when we can do so much better?

Infrastructure Development

Few years ago it seemed impossible to embark on serious infrastructure development that was worth talking about. The few years that I have looked at the plans and money involved in road development through Link Zambia 8000 and Lusaka L400 projects has just brought one idea that every Zambian should now embrace, we can develop any infrastructure if we have the desire to do it. So the fabrication and mining related industries can be done. We need the money of course, but ultimately, we need the desire to do it.

We have to be frank in our thinking, mines don't employ people any more. The whole process is constantly becoming mechanized. But on the other hand, forward linked industries will employ more people as the products from those industries have higher value. This is a sustainable way of using our natural resources and get the benefits from such.

A deliberate policy to develop value addition sectors (not merely smelting), will see this country increase its take from the mining sector. Such sectors have also high growth potential compared to many other sectors. Moreover, the fact that our products will eliminate the cost of transportation of the copper, they will be produced cheaply compared to any other country that will get the copper from Zambia and put it on a truck/train or ship. That mere transport cost will be an advantage to Zambia.

A full scale infrastructure development of mining sector "support" industries in the forward linkage should be Zambia's priority after the roads development have been completed. We need to setup a full scale mining infrastructure support project.

Loss Making Position
I have always had problems with companies which are in loss making positions for years and years, yet taxes are paid elsewhere (ok maybe I watched too much stealing Africa but that does not change the facts). If people can own a company and not get any profits from it for years, whats wrong with us doing the same? Its such a perspective which makes me want to have my hands on the mines and run it myself and see for sure if I will enjoy the "loss making position" seriously.

We need to work on our own issues and find a way to deal with this particular element of loss making. We made a lot of mistakes in selling the mines that we will continuously suffer the problems associated with the sell.

Real Value Addition
The only possible real value addition is reach a level of fabrication and manufacturing products with high returns that the mining products we export. I believe all mining products should be taxed and taxed it should be in a way to encourage value addition. The value addition being referred to here is 'real' value addition. I don't think producing copper anodes/ cathodes/ blisters is real value addition as it will be exported to be processed further. So why don't we work on that element of ensuring we also process "further". That is the real value addition and its returns to the country will be more than what we currently.

We should look at mines as a source of an opportunity to reach that "further" processing cheaper than anywhere in the world as transportation costs will be lower than any one - with the exception of other mineral producers. That is the direction we need to be looking at.

This value addition will bring in employment and profits. We should face the fact that mines will never bring in employment as the whole sector will have to be more and more mechanized. But support sectors will need skilled labour to be able to handle and produce a variety of goods on the market. We should aim at moving from cable production to circuit boards or computer mother boards which may only need addition of other elements to be complete. The copper we have will do much of the work.

We need to identify products that can easily be produced here and find a way to encourage that production. Who ever thought China would be the Hi-tech hub of the world? All hi-tech items where produced in the west. Now we look to the east. So lets aim at making it come from the South, after all, we own the ingredients!

True value addition! Lets forget about the anodes, cathodes and copper blisters. Lets move and progress!

So What Is Wrong With SI 89 of 2013???

There has been a lot of debate over this piece of legislation leading to its death. Few actually know what it entails. I thought I should touch on this matter as a way to get back online after weeks of absence!

So what is it? Statutory Instrument 89 of 2013 had one action and it can simply be explained as: it allowed mining companies to export mineral ores and concentrates without paying export duty. So they only paid mineral royalty and then got free "exporting rights". Mineral ores and concentrates? - That is rightly described by our president as soil! I agree with him in full. 

Some say, but mineral royalty was paid! Yes it was! But like all costs of production, mineral royalty is deductible! So its taken as a cost and will affect their overall "profitability" for tax purposes. But on the other hand, export duty sticks and will be "revenue" to government and the people of Zambia. Especially that the item being exported is in raw or intermediate state. on the other hand, if value addition has been done to this, from concentrates or ores to finished or semi-finished products, you can export without duty since you have added value. I actually believe our mineral royalty is useless on the basis of being deductible if we want to get something out. But sticking with best practices, we have it!

From the above therefore, one would expect mining companies to be interested in adding value and then export without duty. But we have a strange bunch of investors that would otherwise find any loop-hole to export without paying taxes. So they stockpile and make it impossible for the people of Zambia to collect the mineral royalty. In my own belief, this is the worst kind of blackmail that we have since in the mining sector and it should be fought with strategy.

Export duty would be the only sure way of getting something out of this. But it was almost tactically dodged! I wont go into who did this and why. That to me is a political and assumption laden topic which would not do justice on this blog.

Mining Tax Regime

I think our mining tax regime needs not only a face-lift, but an entire body work. There has to be a way that we make sure the mines do the best in there work and contribute to this country. 

Our selling of the mines is the greatest mistake that Zambia made. We may have had to sell, but we should have done it with out heads, not cheques! Any sell is welcome, but it must be done in a way that will benefit this country and the future generations especially that it involves non-renewable resources. It is for this reason that I always regard Chiluba's government as selling the biggest part of Zambia. I stand by my words.

Let us be frank, if the mines wont pay taxes and are not owned by us, then why do we have them? If we own them and don't pay taxes, its our mines, our exports and our returns. If we make no profits, we have at least got the benefits that the mines currently get. Why would they own mines which will never make any profits? But there are towns in europe that benefit from the returns on the mines when the same mines fail to pay export duty is it really rational for us to let the mines be in the same private hands they have been?

Option one as far as I am concerned is get the mines back and pay them for the wasted time. We then find a way to run the mines. 

Inefficiency? Well, every parastatal is expected to be inefficient. But serious, ZTE, Philips and BBC are parastatals, would we say they are inefficient? I should add that Zamtel is a parastatal and there must be something that was done when it was sold that has improved its efficiency. That is what is needed to be done also in the mining sector. If the current owners have made it efficient, we too can make it efficient. After all, they have made foreign owners happy!

Option two is to make sure we change the mining tax regime and ensure that the mines pay their fair share of taxes. Why is it that there is always a blackmail when government changes or tries to tax the mines? Employment is the only contribution these mines add to Zambia. They also use it as a tool to blackmail us to have their way. So if we run the mines, we control the employment, get the financial benefits and don't have to worry about tax avoidance which to me has been a bigger problem. If we can't tax them properly, we will never get anything out of this, and we will continuously complain about it.

We need to resolve this issue in full and in our favour. I hate thinking about the silly court cases that they always want to threaten the people with. But seriously, I think we need to up our game and prepare adequately in getting back the mines. This is a failed attempt at privatization. 

Back to S.I. 89 of 2013, it allowed mining companies to export mineral ores and concentrates without paying export duties. Clearly this meant, they mine and get everything without a single ngwee left in the country except the employment they created. No one should support this, and we should make sure we do everything possible to stop it.