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Stanbic Bank Zambia has called for increased private sector involvement, regional integration, and diversification of energy sources, identifying banking opportunities in direct offtake deals, wheeled transactions, and power trading.
Stanbic Senior Vice-President, Mining and Metals, Namakuka Sichone said addressing the growing energy deficit required accelerated solutions supported by the government, the private sector and regional collaboration.
Sichone said this during the Bank’s recent participation at the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Mining Week, while reinforcing and showcasing its position as the premier strategic partner for the broader mining sector.
The annual DRC Mining Week, in Lubumbashi has grown to be among Africa’s premier mining event that brings together key players in the mining, energy, infrastructure and finance sectors targeted at shaping the future of the DRC’s mining sector, as well as the rest of the continent.
“Getting renewable energy onto the national grid is an essential way of helping to tackle the national power deficit currently engulfing most Southern African Development Community (SADC) member countries, Zambia included,” Sichone said.
She stated that in recent years, private power decentralized energy had been playing a big role in getting renewable energy projects to the grid, and that Zambia had got Open Access that allowed this to happen.
Sichone said embedded power in terms of roof top solar energy was another invaluable source of renewable energy.
“Increased investments in both solar and hydroelectric sources of energy would unlock further power generation to unleash Africa’s huge potential. Ultimately, to solve the current power challenges, private sector involvement and regional integration remain key,” she said.
Sichone noted the importance of African countries diversifying the power projects coming on-stream across the region, a focus on home-grown solutions and regional access.
She said Stanbic had taken progressive steps in collaboration with energy sector players in Zambia, namely GreenCo and Kariba North Bank Extension Power Corporation, in closing the 100MW Chisamba Solar PV Project, the largest grid-connected solar development in our Zambia’s history.
She stated that with a number of companies operating in Zambia attending the DRC Mining Week, it was clear that there was a lot of insights and skills transfer that we can leverage as a country.
“Stanbic Bank’s cross-border capabilities, underpinned by the broader Standard Bank Group network, are uniquely positioned to support the regional growth of mining operations by providing mining sector capabilities and expertise to companies operating in both Zambia and DRC as well as the ability to connect these companies to Standard Bank DRC,” Sichone said.
In addition to advisory services, the Bank also highlighted the importance of a cash management service in Kasumbalesa to facilitate cash collection and deposits for clients at the DRC border that could offer a convenient banking for businesses.
She noted that despite the global push for digitisation, the cash management service remained relevant for clients needing physical cash transactions.
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