The Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone (LS-MFEZ) has continued to stay the course of profitability, declaring a second consecutive dividend of K2 million to the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) for the 2022 financial year.
LS-MFEZ Board Chairman Mr Gomeli Litana handed over the dividend cheque to IDC Chief Financial Officer Mrs Chearyp Sokoni earlier today, which is K800,000 larger than the previous one.
Mr Litana said LS-MFEZ, which is owned 100% by the IDC, has been turned around from loss making to profit making thanks to the role New Dawn Government has played to create an enabling business environment through various tax incentives and the continued removal of bottlenecks affecting business turnaround times.
He said LS-MFEZ’s investment portfolio grew from US$877.39 million in 2021 to US$ 1.176 billion in 2022, resulting in a 140.9% increase in total income for the year while profit before tax rose by 44%.
He added that LS-MFEZ had recorded 28 activations for investor constructions over the last three years, resulting in a total of 28, 526 jobs created within the Zone.
Speaking while receiving the dividend cheque, Mrs Sokoni said it was pleasing that LS-MFEZ had declared a dividend for the second consecutive year.
She said it was important for subsidiaries to declare dividends, as the IDC uses dividend receipts for investments and re-investments in the development of its many projects, thereby actualizing a pipeline of projects as well as deepening Zambia’s industrial capacity and economic growth.
Mrs Sokoni praised the strides LS-MFEZ had made in furthering the industrialization agenda and implored the company to complete its planned projects including road infrastructure, sanitation system, fibre-optic connectivity and residential housing projects.
