Northern Coffee works impress PS

Northern Coffee works impress PS

Kasama, March 14, 2015, ZANIS–Northern province permanent secretary Hlobotha Nkunika says he is impressed with the works being done by Northern Coffee Corporation Limited (NCCL) on its four estates in the region.

Mr Nkunika was speaking yesterday when he inspected the Kateshi Coffee Plantation in Kasama.

According to the company’s General Manager Paul Bebbington, the company has invested over US$30 million in its four coffee estates of Kateshi, Ngoli, Luombe and Insanya that they are currently running in the Province.

Bebbington said a total of 1,300 hectares of cultivated coffee has so far been done on the four estates.

He said the company was currently looking for more land to expand their investments.

Northern Coffee Corporation Limited is a subsidiary of the Olam Group – a transnational Company with Headquarters in Singapore whose main specialty is legumes and seed.

Former Commerce Minister Bob Sichinga led a Zambian delegation to the Olam HQ in Singapore last year in August where its top management assured the Zambian government that it was keen to pump in motre money in its investments in the country.

And Mr. Nkunika said government was impressed with investors, especially in the agriculture sector because they were a major boost to the economy of the nation.

He was also happy that the company is developing a highly mechanized farm which is growing coffee in a diversified way.

Mr Nkunika said it was clear that the company was contributing to employment creation because of the 2000 workers they had engaged.

He said to curtail power outages, ZESCO will connect the company to Lunzuwa power plant once the 14.2 megawatts power station is fully commissioned.

During the visit to Kateshi, Mr Nkunika was accompanied by officials from ZESCO, and the provincial planning unit.