• Kafubu Shopping Mall was borne out of a partnership between Workers Compensation Fund Control Board and South Africa’s Heriot Property Limited. Picture by GETHSEMANE MWIZABI.

By GETHSMANE MWIZABI –

SO far so good, the architectural face of Ndola is changing for the better each and every day.

Thanks to the many construction works in recent memory. One such is the US$20 million Kafubu Mall, which is a Private Public Partnership (PPP).

The idea of Private-Public Partnerships (PPP) can bear plenty fruits especially if the right deal is sealed by parties involved.

Job creation and accelerated growth can be spurred as a result of proper PPP in a business environment.

Work on the gigantic Kafubu Shopping Mall, which is a partnership between Workers Compensation Fund Control Board (WCFCB) and South Africa’s Heriot Property Limited, is progressing well, and Ndola city is finding its place on the Zambia map.

Ndola used to be a city at the centre of economic development in Zambia. It is located at the junction of roads leading to several cities and towns on the Copperbelt and beyond.

One is able to easily cross over into the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the North and Angola to the west. The DRC is just 10 kilometres away from the town.

Not very long ago, many would recall that Ndola was a ghost town. Several industries that were a source of employment for locals collapsed. The town went into a slumber and hopelessness was all over the place.

Back in the day, Ndola had the largest industrial centres of Zambia, boasting, among many high-powered sites, a Land Rover vehicle assembly plant, Dunlop tyre manufacture, Johnson and Johnson Industry but Ndola’s economy shrunk significantly between 1980 and 2000. Many closed factories and plants lie unoccupied in the town. A number of former industries such as clothing and vehicle assembly have gone under completely.

At its height, Ndola was Zambia’s host of production sites for such world-renowned blue chip names such as Colgate-Palmolive, Unilever, Dunlop, Land Rover, etc. Even though the term ‘ghost town’ can no longer apply to it, Ndola is yet to regain its economic glory of pre-1980 days.

But that was then and this is now.

Plenty has been happening lately. The Kafubu Mall is one big project that is changing the appearance of Ndola among others.

Ndola city is situated about 320 kilometres north of Lusaka.

Because of its strategic position, the city is becoming a centre of attraction, coming more transitory than ever before.

Construction work of the shopping mall started in March of 2013 and so far the work is almost complete.

There is no doubt that Kafubu Mall marks the Board’s Commitment to prudent investment of public resources in order to grow a compensation fund and enable the board to meet its statutory obligation of adequately compensating workers who suffer injuries and disease in the course of employment.

The trading facility is expected to create more than 300 permanent jobs once completed and Government is impressed with the quality of work so far done at the mall which is scheduled to be completed in April this year.
Minister of Labour and Social Security, Fackson Shamenda was recently at the site and was clearly impressed with the remarkable progress being made on the project.

Mr Shamenda said the Government was in support of such investments as they contributed to the socio-economic development of the country.

He  said  the  construction of the mall  had  not  only  created jobs  for the local  people but had also provided skills for the  employees.

“As Government, we are impressed with the quality of works and the speed at which the contractor is working,” the minister said.

Thor Development Limited, the company contracted to build the mall located opposite Ndola Golf Club, will hand over the facility to the developer at the end of January.
According to projects liaison officer, Lombe Nduna, 34 shops at the mall were expected to create permanent jobs for the local people once completed.
He said the facility would be handed over to Kafubu Mall Limited pretty soon.

Kafubu Mall will provide ultra-modern facilities to the business community and residents of Ndola.  

The cost of construction of the mall has been totally financed by Kafubu Mall Limited and in addition, Kafubu Mall Limited will pay lease charges to the Workers’ Compensation Fund Control Board at a rate of K40 million per month as per lease agreement.

There are several benefits attached to the deal, while the investor would make his profits, WCFCB will immensely benefit from the lease payments on a monthly basis.

WCFCB would also have an option to buy a portion of shares in the mall, meaning that, should it decide to buy the shares, it would also benefit from rentals. The option in which to decide to buy shares is only three years.

The lease agreement is for 75 years, and that the mall would be the property of the Workers Compensation.

WCFCB finance director Joseph Chilinda said funds realised from the monthly income would help the board meet its statutory obligations of compensating workers injured or those who contract diseases in the course of their duties.

“Whatever benefits will accrue from this investment will ultimately benefit our beneficiaries,” he said.

Kafubu Shopping Mall is also expected to help decongest Ndola town centre which was increasingly becoming over-populated.

The current population of Ndola stands at 394,518. Without doubt, the construction of an ultra-modern shopping centre by Heriot Properties Group of South Africa conveniently situated near the Kafubu River is a good development which will add value to the city of Ndola.

Leading brands like Shoprite, have already booked their place.

Clothing lines like Woolworth, restaurants and other major South African leading brands would define the mall. In short, it would be a one stop shopping mall where you would get everything under one roof.

In fact it would be the biggest mall in the Copperbelt

region as it would have everything under one roof to the convenience of the shoppers.