The Best of Zambia out in the provinces: Part 2

Part 2: Copperbelt and North-Western Provinces

This two part series on Zambia deliberately excludes Lusaka, Livingstone and game parks! It aims to help redress the imbalance of online coverage of Zambia. Incomplete? Certainly …. Inadequate? Definitely …. Rural areas covered? Unfortunately not …. But at least a step in the right direction.

The first part of the series covers Northern, Eastern, Western and Central Provinces of Zambia. Now we look at the Copperbelt and North-Western Province. Here is a brief guide to three mining towns where you’ll find some of our Best of Zambia clients with outlets or services.

1. Kitwe

Copper cross ingots — old currency. Photo credit

Over 100 years ago, at a place close to one of their traditional copper mines, the Lamba people found “Ichitwe” — a very big head (of a dead animal). As this area developed with the opening up of the commercial ‘Nkana’ and ‘Chambishi’ copper mines, “Ichitwe” became corrupted to “Kitwe”. Kitwe has since developed into a large industrial and commercial centre, second in size to Lusaka, and now also the hub of a growing agricultural activity. It is a popular choice for industrial developers such as cement producers and furniture, clothing and consumer goods manufacturers.

Kitwe outlets and services

For quality public transport in and out of Kitwe you are spoilt for choice, with CR Holdings, Euro-Africa Bus Services, Power Tools Coach Services and Ticklay’s Coach Service all offering seats on their luxury coaches. If you’re looking for transport of your own, Action Auto have a showroom of quality vehicles and parts from Isuzu and other reputable brands.

For spares for your trucks or buses, you will find a BUK Truck Parts branch in Kitwe. Fill up on fuel at the SGC Investments filling station; and for a full range of vehicle parts and services there is Diesel Electric. Diesel Electric is proud to be the official agent of Bosch in Zambia, with its own Bosch certified automotive workshops.

Situated on the corner of Juba Road and Eshowe Road, Amiran Ltd offers the complete farmer’s tool kit — agrochemicals, seeds and seedlings, irrigation equipment and even communications solutions. Established 50 years ago, Amiran Ltd are the experts in the field of agricultural supplies. The company is the exclusive supplier of Hazera seeds in Zambia.

Homenet Zambia has an office in Kitwe, offering a comprehensive range of properties for sale or rent, whether you are looking for a plot, a house, a factory or office space. If you’re building or renovating property, Safintra Zambia can help, with a wide-ranging stock of roofing materials, steel frames, steel vents and guttering, steel pipes, steel building supports and structural steel. They also provide a steel cutting and pressing service.

Be informed about current events and news in Zambia — pick up the latest Bulletin and Record magazine in most supermarkets and bookshops in Kitwe, including Bookworld along Kabengele Road. In addition Strong Zambia provides satellite hardware for Pay TV and Free-to-Air systems. And for live entertainment with a cause, there is Barefeet Theatre. Barefeet Theatre is made up of young creative artists who were formerly on the streets, but now work as artists, facilitators and managers for their productions.

2. Ndola

Ndola experienced an economic slump in the late 1900s. But the city’s fortunes are on the rise as the 21st century progresses, much like the balloons in the picture. Just 10 km from the DR Congo border, Ndola is the capital of the Copperbelt, with a population of over 500,000. Many of Zambia’s major industries are located in Ndola, and it has an international airport. Bwana Mkubwa open-cast mine is 10 km south-east of the city centre. The oil pipeline from Dar-es-Salaam ends its 1700 km journey at Ndola’s Indeni Oil Refinery which supplies the whole country with petroleum products. The newly completed Levy Mwanawasa Stadium has recently put Ndola in the limelight, staging many high profile intercontinental soccer matches.

Ndola outlets and services

The popular Lynx brand of fruit drinks is based in Ndola, and Unified Chemicals Company have an retail and wholesale outlet for their healthy Olé brand of edible oil.

CR Holdings, Euro-Africa Bus Services, Power Tools Coach Services and Ticklay’s Coach Service coaches all pass through Ndola. Go to Voyagers Car Rentals for a quality self-drive or chauffer-driven car hire service. They represent Europcar in Zambia. You’ll also find an SGC Investments filling station in Ndola. If you need a comprehensive travel service, Voyagers Travel can organise everything, from car hire and corporate travel to honeymoons and tailor made safari trips of a lifetime.

Handyman’s Paradise in Ndola aims to offer “everything for the handyman under one roof”. It also caters for building contractors, providing exclusive access to some of the world’s best brands of materials and tools for building and property improvement in general. Kay Two Zambia is a fully registered building and construction company dealing in steel structures. If you are looking to hire tools or equipment, Coastal Hire has a good range available in excellent condition. Keegy Ltd are specialists in competitively priced Toyota, BT and Clark forklift trucks, and BUK Truck Parts has a branch here.

Ndola has the kind of infrastructure you would expect from an industrial hub, with the appropriate commercial logistics support. Tanfreight Africa Ltd specialises in exporting seed and copper, as well as imports from the port of Dar es Salaam in containerised and bulk cargo. NAC2000 Corporation Ltd provides ground services for aircraft at Ndola International Airport. This includes the loading and off-loading of aircraft, aircraft parking and cabin cleaning. NAC2000 also offer a freight and forwarding service as well as passenger handling

For entertainment, Strong Zambia provides satellite hardware and a service for Pay TV and Free-to-Air systems; while Barefeet Theatre offers creative live entertainment from young artists who were formerly on the streets.

On the way from Lusaka to Ndola, don’t miss the opportunity to relax for a while at the stunning Nsobe Game Camp, home to 15 species of antelope, giraffe and zebra, and over 320 bird species. Relaxed informal dining and conferencing facilities are available. Shamilimo Lodge close by provides more traditional African hospitality, with secluded accommodation in a rural setting, with restaurant and conference facilities.

This year’s Kwilimuna Ceremony will take place Thursday July 18 — Saturday July 20, 2013 in Ibenga, about an hour’s drive west of Ndola. The Kwilimuna Ceremony is a three day traditional harvest festival of the Bulima people, part of the Lamba tribe.

3. Solwezi

Like Ndola, Solwezi is close to the DR Congo border. Trade with DR Congo and substantial mining developments by First Quantum and Barrick Gold have led to a rapid increase in mining-related services and business activities. In fact Solwezi is one of the five fastest growing towns in Africa according to a 2012 survey commissioned by www.howwemadeitinafrica.com.

Solwezi outlets and services

CR Holdings and Ticklay’s Coach Service can take you from Lusaka to Solwezi — a 10 hour journey not for the faint-hearted. SGC Investments has a filling station in Solwezi and Mercury Express Logistics offers a 48 hour mailroom service.

Solwezi is in an expansion phase. For any building project, go to the professionals Kay Two Zambia. And for the home, Strong Zambia provides all you need for Pay TV and Free-to-Air systems, whilst you can find a quality range of meat and meat products from Majoru Investments Ltd along Independence Avenue in the town centre.

This post is part of a ‘Best of Zambia out in the provinces’ series:

• Part 1: Northern, Eastern, Western and Central Provinces
• Part 2: Copperbelt and North-Western Provinces