• It’s a very good development for the Construction Industry in general and individual private developers.
• It’s a welcome move in the sense that they have penalized them.
• Let CCPC extend this to other producers of products.

Zambia Association of Citizen Contractors (ZACCO) says the decision by Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) to fine Cement Companies for price fixing is a relief to the construction industry.
Association Deputy Secretary Isaac Sangulukani told Money FM News in an interview, that the move is a very positive development for the sector in general and Individual private developers who were subjected to exorbitant cement prices.
Mr. Sangulukani said the Association is happy that the Companies have been penalized although the fines are slightly lower.
He however stated that the decision to fine the erring Cement Companies did not have to wait for the outcry from ZACCO and the General public including President Edgar Lungu’s intervention in order for CCPC to react.
Mr. Sangulukani pointed out that if the Commission was proactive and not reactive, players in the Construction sector would not have found themselves paying exorbitant and exploitative prices for a bag of cement.
“It’s a very good development for the Construction Industry in general and individual private developers; it’s a welcome move in the sense that they have penalized them. It’s a good move, but as ZACCO what we would have loved is that, the penalty for us looks to be slightly small and this maybe because of the limitation of the laws.”
“However, this decision by CCPC did not have to wait for the outcry from ZACCO and the General public including the Republican President intervention for them to react and stop the collusion. If the CCPC were proactive rather than reactive, we wouldn’t have found ourselves in a situation where we had to pay exorbitant and exploitative prices for a bag of cement,” Mr. Sangulukani noted.
Meanwhile, Mr. Sangulukani stressed the need for CCPC to consider extending investigations to other producers of products and services so that people are not subjected to unreasonable commodity prices.
“Let them extend this to other institutions that are doing the same thing. That’s our appeal as ZACCO but otherwise, it’s a good move. Even if Dangote cooperated, they should tell them to reduce the prices, let’s see the price of cement going down and we will see development. Let them audit these firms from time to time,” he added.
Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) Board of Commissioners has fined Cement Companies for Anti-Competitive Trade Practices and Orders Adjustment of Prices.
Commission Senior Public Relations Officer Namukolo Kasumpa disclosed that Lafarge Zambia and Mpande Limestone Limited have been fined 10% of their annual turnovers for 2019 and another 10% of their 2020 annual turnovers for price fixing and division of markets, while Dangote Cement Zambia Limited was granted full leniency for having cooperated with the Commission during investigations.