Unless Spark Batteries evolves to the new
technology, it may just be another political nostalgia that turns out a failed
venture, like Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia which will soon be on rocks because
it survives on government grant to produce and the customer who bought the
fertiliser is the same government
By Nyalubinge Ngwende
 |
| Zambia once produced dry cells at Mansa Batteries |
When Mansa Batteries was closed, Luapula
province in Northeast Zambia was left without any manufacturing industry. A lot
of jobs were lost while the country lost its only dry cell making company.
Lately there has been some fancy about
reopening the battery-making plant. The fancy is so high on the minds of the
young people, who want employment in the Luapula province, and on the minds of
politicians, who seek to garner political mileage out of the venture that gave
Mansa a sparkle of economic development. The company built beautiful houses and
accommodate its workers and gave the town a two storey building guest house
where the affluent spent their evenings dinning and winning.
Vice president Guy Scott has announced
plans by government to resuscitate Mansa Batteries.
While on a campaign trail in the just ended
Mansa Central parliamentary by-election, Dr Scott said government envied that
state owned companies like Mansa Batteries were brought to life like in it has
done in the case of Nitrogen Chemicals.
Dr Scott told Mansa residents that
government is convinced that there is still sufficient Manganese in Luapula
Province to resuscitate Mansa Batteries.
Dr Scott believes by bringing to life Mansa
Batteries, government will be fulfilling its promise of reducing unemployment
levels in the province and the country as whole. “The PF government will now
cut down on making rhetorical speeches about what it is able to do to
concentrate on implementing developmental projects it has planned in fulfilling
the promises it made to the people in the country.”
However, if anyone is to think about
reviving Spark, as Mansa Batteries was fondly known by its trademark product of
dry cells, they must first have a second thought; scan the environment about what
has changed so much on the market about the devices that were powered by the cells.
The economic sense of manufacturing
batteries from Mansa was that it had high grade manganese which made 5 percent
of the raw materials required to produce the dry cells. At the time Zambia also
had low coverage of electricity to homes, meaning that most devices like radios
and record players in homes that had them depended on these cells. With trade
barriers for imports, people in the country were left with no alternative but
to buy Spark.
Today the powering of devices has changed.
In the face of increased use of solar power, it means people who are not
connected to electricity can make a one-off purchase of a solar panel and rely
on free sunlight to recharge it for years and still enjoy their favourite
programmes on radio and music from their CD players.
It is even becoming more challenging to
think of opening a batteries company in the 21st Century closed two
decades ago to start producing batteries that run out in less than a week and
you need to spend more. People would not need dry batteries anymore, if they
did, they would buy rechargeable batteries for their digital devices. In fact
lithium batteries are seen as durable, other than alkaline type that Mansa
Batteries produced. But can Mansa
Batteries produce the lithium type without going into Foreign Exchange problems
importing 95 percent of the raw materials other than the Manganese that the
town boasts of in abundance?
To look at Mansa Batteries as an easy way
out of keeping the Patriotic Front support in Luapula can be costly, unless
this country invests in research and starts producing 95 percent of the inputs
in the batteries and integrate the industries that will contribute parts to the
final product to quality that can enter the markets of neighbouring countries.
Without that it is strongly doubtful if the ROI to reopen Mansa Batteries for
nostalgia will be realised.
As pointed out, Zambians are not consuming
more batteries as they did in the 80s and early 90s. This brings us to think
deeper, hence the need for those edging to reopen Spark Batteries to innovate
the products they will produce or all together forget about the whole revival
sentimentality.
I can bet my head that a company that
ventures into making freezits or fruit juice has a high growth potential, with
the right capital injection in terms of technology as well as knowledge in
product development, packaging and marketing than the emotive pursuit to put
Mansa Batteries on its old production line.
Instead of struggling with the science
of finding materials to cut on the imported inputs required in making
competitive batteries, growing fruits and a drinks industry that can meet local
and international market standards should be troubling Chanda Kasolo at
present. Fish farming can be another area where he could put his energies so
that the groups can start supplying chain stores outside Luapula where fish is
bought like hot cake.
Other suggestions for Mansa provincial
administration and Dr Scott are that Mansa Batteries has a crusher that can be
turned into stone crushing and other equipment that can make paving blocks for
the link Zambia. Therefore the project in Northern, Luapula and part of the
Copperbelt can be fed from the Mansa Batteries.
If not, if there is another industrial use
for crushed and processed Manganese, former Mansa Batteries can be converted to
produce such to supply an available market. Using the Mansa manganese for
pharmaceutical products for export could even be a venture that can be profitable
than the wild dreams of producing dry cells.
Unless Spark Batteries evolves to the new
technology, it may just be another political nostalgia that turns out a failed
venture, like Nitrogen Chemicals of Zambia which will soon be on rocks because
it survives on government grant to produce and the customer who bought the
fertiliser is the same government. This makes it difficult for one to
understand the rhetoric of government that the fertiliser parastatal is viable.
NN
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