Zambian Investor

26/05/2026

Investors, I want to share something with you.

Mu email inbox today I got some notifications. All from Bank of Zambia.

All saying the same thing.

Transaction Created.

These are coupon payments from our Boma arriving directly into my account.

I did not open a shop today.

I did not send an invoice.

I did not follow up with a client. No stories about yesterday was Africa Freedom day call me on Friday.

I woke up. Made my tea. And the government sent me money.

This is what a government bond looks like in practice.

Every bond I bought at auction some as little as K1,000 are now paying me back. Semi-annually. Like clockwork. For the next 15 years.

Remember our community member who received her first dividend of K28 and smiled like she had received K1 million?

This is the same feeling. Just from bonds instead of shares.

The amount does not matter at the start.

The behaviour does.

You buy. You hold. The government pays.
The goal is to fill up the inbox and have those payments cover living expenses.

The next bond auction is June 26. K6.3 billion on offer. But we have a Treasury auction this week.

To participate contact a licensed authorised dealer bank Standard Chartered, ZANACO, FNB, Stanbic, or Access Bank. Or directly from https://investorportal.boz.zm/

This is financial education, not investment advice. Always consult a licensed professional before investing.

What does your inbox look like today?

26/05/2026

25/05/2026

Happy Africa day investors. I hope we too some time to honor our rich heritage.

Last week we learned that Chilanga Cement the first company ever listed on LuSE celebrated 30 years on the exchange.

Then one of our members, Dennis, did something I want everyone to see.

He picked up a calculator.

Chilanga Cement listed in 1995 at approximately K0.50 per share.

The share once reached K79.75, have fallen slightly in recent trades.

Dennis applied a formula called CAGR Compound Annual Growth Rate.
He was able to show that Chilanga has grown at 17.8% per year. Every year. For 30 years.

So K1,000 invested in 1995 becomes K159,500 today.

Dennis's calculation reminded me of Inutu runs her shop in Chelstone.

When she goes home the shop stops. That simple no Inutu, no sales.

When you own shares in Chilanga Cement the factory runs whether you are awake or asleep.

Whether it is a public holiday like today or a tomorrow.
The business works for you around the clock.
That is what ownership means.

You are not selling your time. You are putting your money to work and letting time do the heavy lifting.

Please note that this is just an illustration, and factors like brokerage fees, taxes, and years when the price fell significantly all affect the real return.

But the principle is real.
30 years of patience. 17.8% per year. 159 times your money.

Remeber compounding never stops working.

This is financial education, not investment advice. Always consult a licensed stockbroker before investing.

What would you have invested K1,000 in 30 years ago?

23/05/2026

Investors we were well represented this week at Huntley Farm in Chisamba for the Zambeef Shareholder Open Day.

Farai and Sam shared amazing photos of the day.

Moses did an great write up for our WhatsApp group. In his summary Moses helped us a question on all Zambeef shareholders want answered.

When are shareholders getting a dividend?

The CEO, Faith Mukutu, answered it directly.
She said

"We recently got rid of the issue of the preference share. That is when the story of the dividend came in. That gave us confidence and one of the items we did mention is that it is going to unlock the potential for us to actually make payments towards the dividend."

She also said this.

"None of the executives sleep here. We are working tirelessly to try and unlock the cash conversion cycles of the business."

And this.

"You would like to know we are very consistent in terms of management of our obligations. We have never missed or defaulted any payment."

The preference share is gone. There is light at the end of the tunnel.

Cash flow is the remaining challenge. That farm equipment and livestock is capital intensive. It takes a while to turn the capital into cash. Management knows it. They are not hiding it.

This is not a dividend announcement. It is a dividend direction.

The CEO did not say when. She said the conditions are being created.

That was our main take away from Huntley Farm.

Consult a licensed stockbroker before making any investment decisions based on this information.

Did you go to the Zambeef shareholders day? What new things did you learn about your company?

22/05/2026

31 years ago this week on 22 May 1995 Chilanga Cement became the very first company to list on the Lusaka Securities Exchange.

Not the first in its industry. Not the first that year.
The first. Ever.

When your parents were building their first home in 1995 the cement in the walls may have come from Chilanga. And the company that made it was just opening its doors to ordinary Zambian investors.

Before Airtel. Before ZANACO. Before Klapton Re. Before any of the names we talk about in this community.

Chilanga Cement was there first.

30 years later here is what the business looks like.

Revenue K2.97 billion.
Annual profit K596 million.
Return on equity 30%.
Dividend K4.00 per share every year.
Share price up 205% in the last 12 months alone.

Think about someone who bought Chilanga Cement shares in 1995.

They did not buy because they understood EPS or return on equity.

They bought because they understood cement.

Every school being built needs it. Every road. Every house. Every shopping mall. Every clinic.
As long as Zambia is building Chilanga is working.

They planted the mango tree in 1995.

30 years later the tree is still producing.

This is what long term investing looks like. Not a get rich scheme.

Thirty years of staying in the game.

What Zambian company would you have bought in 1995 if you had the chance?

This is financial education, not investment advice. Consult a licensed professional before investing.

20/05/2026

In the last 2 posts we have got to know Inutu and Mutinta.
And seen how more output has resulted in less money. Because of the invisible force of the kwacha.

When the company you own shares in has a bad season what do you do?

Let us go back to Inutu.

February was hard. Sales down. Generator costs up. Less money than last year.

But Inutu is not closing her shop.
She is doing something most people would not notice.

She is building a cold room.

Not because February was good. Because December is coming.

She knows the festive season. She knows Chelstone fills up. She knows the customer who bought less in February will be back in December with a bonus in their pocket.

The cold room is her bet on the future not a reaction to the past.

Ba Zambia Sugar is doing exactly the same thing.
No dividend was paid this half year. The board said clearly we are using the money to build.

A K1.72 billion new packing plant and warehouse at Nakambala, the Twazabuka Project is under construction and on schedule.

A 13.5 megawatt co-generation energy plant has started. No more expensive ZESCO electricity.
A 15 megawatt solar plant is being contracted.

Why does this matter to you as an investor?

Because this is the difference between a slow month and a failing business.

Inutu's shop had a slow February. But Inutu is still building.

Zambia Sugar had a painful six months. But it is still building.

A 65% drop in profit is serious. I am not telling you to ignore it.

But the question a serious investor asks is not only what happened last season?

The question we should ask is the business still building for the next one?

As they say bola ni 90 minutes. The second half of 2026 is expected to be stronger. Better rains. ZESCO stabilising. Market demand recovering.

Inutu's cold room will be ready for December.
Zambia Sugar's solar plant will be ready for the next harvest.

This is the third investing lesson.

A bad season is information. Not a verdict.

Your job as an investor is to know the difference between a company going through a slow February and one that is actually closing down.

Here is post 1 in this series https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BUQT8MGfL/

If you owned Zambia Sugar shares this season did you hold or did you sell?

20/05/2026

Investors, in our last post I told you about Inutu.
More stock. More hours. Less money.
Here is the post https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BUQT8MGfL/

Today I want to tell you about the invisible force that made it worse.

Something happened this year that most Zambians celebrated.

The kwacha got stronger.

Against the dollar our currency gained nearly 15% this year.

Imported cooking oil got slightly cheaper. Fuel stabilised. Things from outside Zambia cost a little less.

Good news. Right?

For Inutu buying stock from a local supplier mostly yes.

But now imagine her neighbour Mutinta in Mazabuka.

Mutinta grows sugarcane. Her buyer exports sugar to neighbouring countries. Those countries pay in dollars.

When those dollars come back to Zambia they get converted to kwacha.

Last year $1 came home as K26.

This year that same dollar comes home as K19.

Mutinta sold more sugarcane than ever. But she brought home less kwacha per bag.

Ba Zambia Sugar just lived Mutinta's story.

Export volumes went up 24%. But the kwacha conversion wiped out all of that extra volume and more.

Export revenue still declined 6% despite selling more sugar abroad.

This is the second investing lesson.

The same news can be good for one person and painful for another.

A strong kwacha is good for Inutu buying imports.
It is painful for Mutinta converting dollars back home.

When you own shares in a company you own their exchange rate exposure too.

It is not always visible. It is not always in the headlines.

In our final post we ask the hardest question.

When a company you own has a difficult season what do you do?

Did you know the kwacha could affect your shares this way?

Here is part 3 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/14cvmSWjuHe/

20/05/2026

Investors I met a hard working business woman, called Inutu.

She runs a shop in Chelstone.

This year she did everything right.
She stocked more. Woke up earlier. Closed later. Bought in bulk to get better prices from her supplier.

By every measure she worked harder than last year.

But at the end of February she counted her money.
Less than the same time in 2025.

Ya shani? How does that happen?

3 things hit her at the same time.

Her regular customers started buying less. Some lost jobs. Others found a cheaper shop nearby. Her sales dropped.

She tried to sell more to customers in other areas. By introducing bike deliveries but transport costs ate into what she made. She sold more and earned less from those sales.

And her generator was running during load shedding kept taking money she had not budgeted for.

More stock. More hours. Less money.

Ba Zambia Sugar just lived this exact story.

In the six months to February 2026 they produced 14% more sugar than the same time last year.
More cane. More bags. More output.
Profit fell 65%.

Revenue dropped from K3.97 billion to K3.56 billion.

Domestic customers bought 20% less sugar. Input costs went up. Electricity remained expensive.

This is the first investing lesson hiding inside this story.
Output is not the same as income.

A company just like a shop can work harder, produce more, and still earn less when the conditions around it change.

This is not a reason to panic. It is a reason to understand.

In our next post we look at the invisible force that quietly took money from Zambia Sugar without anyone in Lusaka noticing.

Are you holding Zambia Sugar shareholder?

Tell us in the comments.

Here is part 2 https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1ZgnRNYeGu/

19/05/2026

Investors something big his happening this week.
Zambeef one of the largest companies on LuSE is inviting shareholders to Huntley Farm in Chisamba this Thursday.

The cheese plant. The feedlots. The farming operations. All open for shareholders to walk through.

Most people will go as visitors.

I want our community to go as owners.

So I put together a Shareholder Open Day Toolkit built from the 2025 Annual Report.

It covers 3 things.

The numbers to know before you board that bus at 07 hrs.

Revenue: K8.06 billion. Operating profit: K640 million. Finance costs: K408 million up 38%.
That last number is the one to watch.

Ten questions to ask management. Written from the actual financial statements. On debt. On dividends. On the new cheese plant and flour mill. On the share price.

What to look for on the farm itself. Green flags. Red flags.

What a prepared investor observes that a tourist misses.

The toolkit is free. Available to members of our WhatsApp group.

If you are not in the group yet just type "give us iwe" and I'll DM the tool kit.

If you are going on Thursday go prepared.

This is what ownership looks like ba mwine.

18/05/2026

For years Zambia has had gold in the ground.

Almost all of it has left Zambia unrefined.
The gold gets mined in places like Mufumbwe. Put on a truck and it is flown out. Refined somewhere in South Africa, Dubai, or Switzerland.

Zambia got the raw material price.
Not the refined gold price.

Think of it like this.

We have been growing tomatoes and selling them at the farm gate. While someone else makes the tomato sauce, bottles it, and sells it at ten times the price.

This week ZCCM-IH announced the incorporation of Kyalo Goldfields Limited.

A joint venture. 51% owned by ZCCM-IH. 49% by Mining Mineral Resources SAS the mining division of Vinmart Group.

Kikonge gold is in Mufumbwe district, North-Western Province.

The deal involves exploration, mechanized mining, artisanal miner formalization and critically local gold refining capacity.

That last part is the most important.

Local refining means Zambian gold becomes Zambian refined gold. More value. More jobs. More money staying at home.

We have heard this story before especially with copper. The announcement says exploration first. No production timeline. No resource estimate yet. No committed external funding confirmed.
This is not a mine opening. It is a factory being planned.

But for investors holding ZCCM-IH shares this is the company putting into action its gold value add plan.

Remember The Planet Gold artisanal mining partnership we covered earlier this year. Now a formal mechanized JV with refining ambitions.
ZCCM-IH is not just a copper royalty company anymore.

They are building the tomato sauce factory.

Are you watching ZCCM-IH?
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1CkACTxhu7/

17/05/2026

In our last post we learned that ba na Chanda knows something most investors do not.

When the market is quiet and prices are low she does not sit and wait.

She goes to her supplier and restocks.
More tomatoes. Not less.

Because Friday is coming. And when the market fills up she has the most stock at the best margin.
This is exactly what the smart money does on LuSE.

Earlier this year Airtel was trading at K89.
The WhatsApp groups were quiet. Nobody was talking about buying.

But some investors looked past the price and asked the right question.

Has the business changed?

Profit up 41%. Dividend up 37%. 12.45 million subscribers.

The tomatoes were still good. The price was just low.

Those investors restocked at K89.

Today Airtel is at K175. That is 97% in months.

I am not telling you what to buy.

I am telling you to understand what you own.
When prices fall is it a warning or a wholesale price?

Ba na Chanda already knows the answer.

Do you?