The long awaited dream of Zambia finally took shape in December 2004 when Zambia, for the first time, had its own cement factory in the form of Zambezi Portland Cement ready for production. The unit was established by the Chairperson of the Finance Bank of Zambia Ltd., Dr. Rajan Mahtani as an initiative towards offering employment to the locals and wiping out the monopoly from the hands of Lafarge, a French multinational that sold cement, concrete and other constructional aggregates.
The challenge that was presented to Dr. Mahtani was to beat this well established business in terms of quality and trust from the locals. However, the result was shocking when Zambia witnessed an immense support for its newly incorporated cement factory, Zambezi Portland Cement. Taking a degree of comparison, reports suggested that Lafarge offered a quality of cement that registered 32.5N in terms of quality, whereas on the other hand, the Zambezi Portland Cement factory went to the extent of offering a quality that marked 42.5N. A massive difference of 10N made the native company very popular amongst the locals and moreover, the benefit of its hard work also allowed it to enter into a deal with the South African Industrial Development Corporation that aims at building a multi speciality hospital for the city of Lusaka.
Dr. Rajan Matani is the mastermind behind Zambezi Portland Cement and he strongly believes that Zambia is capable of being one of the most productive countries in the world with its rich resource of man power. His list of contributions for Zambia also includes constructing houses for the poor, financing infrastructure development projects, setting up rural employment habitat and transplanting education through channelizing resources, a true devotee to his religion and a determined personality with a concise thinking power.
*** PDF of Magazine "Business Focus Africa" - Issue 40
The challenge that was presented to Dr. Mahtani was to beat this well established business in terms of quality and trust from the locals. However, the result was shocking when Zambia witnessed an immense support for its newly incorporated cement factory, Zambezi Portland Cement. Taking a degree of comparison, reports suggested that Lafarge offered a quality of cement that registered 32.5N in terms of quality, whereas on the other hand, the Zambezi Portland Cement factory went to the extent of offering a quality that marked 42.5N. A massive difference of 10N made the native company very popular amongst the locals and moreover, the benefit of its hard work also allowed it to enter into a deal with the South African Industrial Development Corporation that aims at building a multi speciality hospital for the city of Lusaka.
Dr. Rajan Matani is the mastermind behind Zambezi Portland Cement and he strongly believes that Zambia is capable of being one of the most productive countries in the world with its rich resource of man power. His list of contributions for Zambia also includes constructing houses for the poor, financing infrastructure development projects, setting up rural employment habitat and transplanting education through channelizing resources, a true devotee to his religion and a determined personality with a concise thinking power.
*** PDF of Magazine "Business Focus Africa" - Issue 40
Business Focus Africa - Issue 40 - PDF |