Page 8 - AfrElec Week 01 2023
P. 8
AfrElec PERFORMANCE AfrElec
Copperbelt Energy Corp helps
Zambia become Africa’s best
stock performer in 2022
ZAMBIA A rally in Copperbelt Energy Corporation “What we have seen really is a resurgence in
(CEC) helped Zambia’s benchmark stock terms of investor interest, especially from the
index become Africa’s best performer in 2022, domestic market,” he told Bloomberg. “This
Bloomberg reports. stock still has significant upside.”
The 22-member Lusaka Securities Exchange CEC, which is more than a third owned by
All Share Index climbed almost 12% in dollar private equity firm Affirma Capital Singapore
terms in 2022, its second straight year of gains, Pte, had since 2020 been locked in a legal wran-
according to the news agency. gle with the government. The disagreement was
CEC, which has been supplying electricity resolved in January 2022.
to mining companies in Africa’s second-biggest With a trailing price-to-earnings ratio of
copper producer for more than 60 years, contrib- about five times, CEC is still undervalued,
uted most to the index’s advance. according to Mate, who helped set up the local
Local investors piled into the power sup- stock exchange in 1994 and was its first general
plier’s stock after the government of President manager.
Hakainde Hichilema, who was elected in August CEC says it accounts for over 50% of power
2021, helped resolve a dispute CEC had with the consumed in Zambia and also supplies elec-
previous administration. tricity to mining companies in the neighbour-
The gains in the company’s shares may ing Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the
continue in 2023, according to Charles Mate, continent’s biggest supplier of copper and cobalt,
founder of Stockbrokers Zambia Ltd. among other key minerals.
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 01 04•January•2023
