ZAMBIAN INSURER HOPES TO SELL 30% STAKE

The state-owned Zambia State Insurance Corp (ZSIC) has said that it hopes to sell a 30% holding to an equity partner and list on the Lusaka bourse in order to build its capital base. ZSIC managing director Irene Muyenda said that the firm wanted to sell the stake following the abandonment of the state’s plans last year to sell off a majority holding in the insurer to a private partner. Both local and international firms are expected to be eligible to bid for the holding. Should the deal go ahead, it is anticipated that the holding would be transferred to a partner in three phases, with the first tranche of 10% changing hands as soon as the government endorsed the plan. Analysts have noted that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are likely to support the sale of the stake, having been pushing of late for the privatisation of a raft of state-owned Zambian utilities.