By DERRICK SILIMINA
When Bernard Kamasanyi was stranded in his village, torn apart by the frustration of unemployment, drinking illicit beer with his friends was the only ideal activity to do.
Kamasanyi’s decision to move away from his rural dwelling place on the outskirts of Kalumbila District turned out to be a roll of the dice that would eventually pay off in spades.
“I came to a realization with my fellow youths that if our continued abuse of illicit brew then was not curtailed, we would have become vagabonds and that is why we came up with an idea to register a company called Group Rock. We then approached Trident Foundation Limited (TFL) for any business opportunity at the FQM Trident Mine,” says Kabasanyi who is the Group leader.
Kabasanyi, 45, says management at TFL was receptive and allowed them to start buying scrap metal from the mining company’s scrap yard and to supply a readily available market in the Copperbelt Province.
First Quantum Minerals (FQM), through its subsidiary FQM Trident Limited, is home to a plethora of mining operations that create a treasure-trove of scrap material every year. With the global scrap metal market at its peak, local dealers are enjoying record prices.
SELL
“Since our operations started 10 months ago, we have managed to sell scrap metal worth K7 million in total revenue and paid back the mine approximately K5 million,” Kabasanyi discloses.
According to the 2024 TFL Corporate Social Investment Report, local business development and employment support programme activities include business stimulation, business sustenance, business enhancement and local employment with more than 720 entrepreneurs trained in the last four years and $200,000 returnable grants worth of funds and equipment.
And for Kabasanyi and his 14 team member group, one man’s garbage is definitely another’s treasure.
“We’ve been working together with my team for the past 10 months, our supply chain is quite lucrative, and we have since become self-reliant, thanks to TFL Management for giving us this opportunity because I am now able to sponsor my firstborn child to the university,” he explains.
STEEL INDUSTRY
Scrap metals are boosting Zambia’s steel industry as they are used to produce steel products in the housing and road construction industries.
According to industry experts, the global steel scrap market is expected to reach 1050 million tonnes by 2033, up from its current 655 million tonnes.
“Thanks to the FQM Trident through TFL for giving us a good deal to collect scrap metal and then pay later, once our buyers get the commodity. This model has transformed and empowered us to start a business because we had no capacity to raise capital,” Kabasanyi, a father of seven, states.
Golden Kachinda, one of the members of Group Rock bubbles with confidence that their target market in the next two years is to supply mineral-rich countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo where the market has proved lucrative.
Kachinda, a father of four and a resident of Kalumbila’s northern resettlement area, urges fellow youths to find something productive to do and contribute to their wellbeing.
“We transport two to three trucks full of scrap metal per day of up to 32 tonnes and we approximately supply seven to eight trucks of scrap metal per month,” Kachinda adds.
