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CEC Eyes Nigeria Power Unit
COPPERBELT Energy Cooperation (CEC) has been shortlisted to take over Nigeria state power company which is scheduled for privatisation.
CEC is likely to take on more debt for the purchase of Nigeria's state power company units that is planned for privatisation.
CEC is Zambia's distributor of power to the mines and was in the process of buying Nigeria's power unit
CEC's director of corporate finance Mutale Mukuka told Reuters on the sidelines of an investor conference in Johannesburg that Nigeria has split Power Holding Company's distribution into 11 different units valued at about US$100 million each and consortia that includes CEC has been short-listed to buy at least two of them.
Africa's most populous nation of more than 140 million plans a multi-billion dollar privatisation of its power sector to improve efficiency and cut persistent electricity outages.
"We still have some leverage on our balance sheet. We can raise some money through the balance sheet and then we can do a rights issue depending on how good the deal is.
"The first call is the balance sheet and thereafter if we need more we can leverage it through bringing in more equity in the business." Mr Mukuka said.
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He said CEC also expects electricity demand to exceed the pre-crisis level of 540 megawatts in at least 18 months as new mines come on stream and existing operations expand.
Africa's top copper producer expects at least two new mining operations to begin. Brazilian VALE's Konkola North mine and the Muliashi mine which will be operated by Luanshya Copper Mine.
"With all these projects coming onstream and taking up power definitely that will call for additional load. Each of the existing operations is also trying to maximise copper production and take advantage of the price." He said.
Zambia has vast high-grade reserves of the metal and expects output to more than double to around two million tonnes by 2015.