SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Zambia Sugar continues to focus on establishing strong engagements with all stakeholders including customers, employees, growers, contractors, suppliers, regulatory authorities, local communities, local authorities and traditional leaders, Government and the media. This enables alignment on shared interests, goals and expectations with all stakeholders that regularly interact with the business. These engagements remain key in enabling tus to attain its vision, mission and objectives
The business remains committed to being a good neighbour and responsible corporate citizen in all areas where it operates. This includes Mazabuka, the entire Southern Province, as well as the many other areas where the business extends its footprint, both within the country and the surrounding region.
The business continues to support interests and activities of the various stakeholders in those areas. Initiatives supported during the year included traditional ceremonies, awards ceremonies, sporting activities, workshops and other sponsorship programmes that are in line with our objectives.
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Sweetening Lives, Enriching Communities: Zambia Sugar’s Dedication to Corporate Social Responsibility.
EMPLOYEE COMMUNICATIONS
The internal communication channels continue to be used to promote employee engagement, align goals and communicate expectations, as well as to confirm that we have acted on the feedback. The initiatives to communicate with employees across the organisation and to ensure alignment with the objectives through a programme called Business Alignment Sessions (BAS). The BAS was among the channels that had a significant impact during the year, resulting in a major shift in our engagement efforts with all employees across the organisation.
An additional engagement programme was Busongo – A Personal Choices safety behaviour programme. This initiative represents a significant advancement in the business’ commitment to fostering a strong safety culture in a safe place to work that prioritizes the well-being of all employees.
Safe behaviour is fundamentally linked to the choices employees make on an hourly and daily basis. By examining these choices, particularly regarding habits, risk perception, and the balance of time versus risk, employees are empowered to make nformed, better decisions which can ensure that we go home unharmed every day.
The Busongo programme covered the impact of personal choices on behaviour and the development of engaging relatable drama scripts that illustrate key safety concepts and highlight the benefits of making safer choices. This initiative aims to connect with our colleagues in a meaningful way and encourage a culture of safety throughout the organisation and has been extended to other topics beyond safety.
Other communication channels included the use of the platform with Unions where the Managing Director regularly meets with them to provide business updates and listen to concerns that the they might have, and discuss how we may address them. Any matters that relate to Collective Agreements are referred to the appropriate Human Resources channels. These initiatives have resulted in the Unions and employees being regularly updated on general business events and encouraging their involvement as a means to improve participation and commitment, as well as ensuring harmonious relations to enable the business to achieve its objectives COLLABORATION
COLLABORATION
The business continues to be a major contributor to the Southern Province economy as well as the national economy. In addition to being a leading employer in the province, Zambia Sugar was the largest taxpayer in the fiscal calendar yet again.
The business contributed to a number of initiatives to ensure that the manufacturing sector continues to be a significant contributor to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country and to the local economy.
The business provided active support to the Private Public Dialogue Forum (PPDF) during the year, leveraging its position as a member of the Technical Working Group representing Manufacturing. The PPDF’s objectives include providing a mechanism for structured interaction between Government and the private sector on various policy matters concerning the economy.
In addition, the business continues to be a strong and active member of several apex institutions which include the Sugar Association, the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM), the Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) and Zambia National Farmers Union (ZNFU). Working closely with all these institutions, the business continues to provide several productive engagements with policy makers including the Local Municipal Council to help address a number of challenges that affect industry and business in general.
DONATIONS
The business provides essential support to various stakeholders in the area where it operates including Mazabuka district and the other areas where we have a commercial footprint. The business continued to support the Local Municipality in its service delivery through the provision of bulk water supply to the entire Mazabuka district. It also supports in the grading of community roads and the provision of crane services to aid in the clearing of accident scenes. This relieves the blockage of main access roads and the main highway, thereby averting the risk of disruption of traffic flow and commerce. This service was provided on a number of occasions during the year.
Zambia Sugar, as a member of the End Malaria Council (EMC), sponsored various awareness activities, including golf tournaments and World Malaria Day commemorations as well as donating bicycles to support malaria outreach workers to conduct their work more effectively in the remotest parts of Zambia. The business has been particularly active in raising awareness about malaria, the country’s leading cause of death.
The Company donated hospital furniture to the Mazabuka District Health Management Team (MDHMT) and continued its efforts to promote public health.
COMMUNITY INFRASTRUCTURE
The business rehabilitated community roads in the Chief Mwanachingwala area which were done at a cost of K1.6 million. Other community infrastructure projects included refurbishing works at Nakambala School. The rehabilitation works included replacement of the roofing, renovation and equipping of the laboratory and the replacement of toilets at the public institution which serves the communities of Nakambala.
The business supported the rehabilitation of Shimungalu Police Post as well as purchasing furniture to be used there. The Ndeke Clinic, which provides services to several hundred people every day, was renovated.
The business funded the renovation of several schools affected by severe storms, with two schools experiencing complete roof damage.
The business supported the community through its education pillar with a donation of 100 computers and 100 desks to schools in the Mazabuka area.
Working in partnership with ZAMBEEF, we supported the ‘Walk a Mile in My Shoes’ campaign by providing school shoes to over 350 pupils at 4 schools in Mazabuka. The campaign was spearheaded by the ZAMBEEF Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Faith Mukutu and the Managing Director, Mr. Oswald Magwenzi, who pledged to provide more opportunities to many other boys and girls across the province and the country to have shoes.
SPORT
Zambia Sugar continued to provide support in the area of sport through use of the Nakambala Stadium and all medical emergency services during league matches as a form of ongoing assistance to the premier Division Football Club, (FC) Muza.
The business supported a number of other sporting activities including men and women’s grass roots soccer within the district, notable among these was the assistance to the up-and-coming Young Nakambala Leopards which was promoted from the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ) Amateur League to Division three.
Other sporting activities that we sponsored included various indoor and outdoor sports disciplines, namely darts, cycling, netball, chess, boxing, karate, and athletics. All the clubs sponsored during the year performed very well with some clubs receiving national and international awards. It was pleasing to witness that the Nakambala Athletics Club participated in all national marathons such as 2025 TotalEnergies half Marathon, the FNB Marathon on the Copperbelt, and the 2025 ABSA Marathon.
Zambia Sugar partnered with Total Energies to host the inaugural 2025 TotalEnergies half Marathon and was one of the leading sponsors of the 2025 Absa Marathon which was host to over 8 000 runners, the nation’s largest marathon to date.
The Zambia Sugar 2025 Invitational golf tournament was, yet again, a success, attracting over two hundred golfers from across the country. The event attracted over 30 organisations as sponsors with proceeds from the event being used to upgrade the golf course, install a new irrigation system as well as to support the development of Junior Golf in the Mazabuka area.
ZAMBIA SUGAR AWARDS
The business continues to be recognised for its performance in the various areas of its operations. The business was awarded numerous accolades during the year for its operational excellence, commercial performance, and Corporate Social Investment (CSI) initiatives.
These included recognition for Water and Environmental Stewardship at the Lusaka Water Security Initiative (LuWSi) Awards, recognising its commitment to sustainability and environmental management. Zambia Sugar played a pivotal role in the development and launch of the inaugural Kafue Flats Joint Action Group (KFJAG) Five-Year Strategic Plan (2025–2030). It also supported the launch of the Guidelines for Sustainable Utilization of Wetlands in Zambia, which was held at Nakambala officiated by the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Hon. Sylvia Masebo, MP.
The business received two prestigious awards from the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) during the 2025 Manufacturers Month marking a 40-year history of the Association: the ZAM Ambassador of the Year Award and the ZAM @ 40 Honorary Award, celebrating its consistent support for ZAM’s advocacy efforts to foster a conducive business environment and policy framework for the manufacturing sector.
The business was recognised by the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE), for its long-standing commitment to the capital market of Zambia. In addition, received the 2025 Sustainability Award at the inaugural Zambia Capital Market Conference and Awards held in Livingstone.
Zambia Sugar actively participated in and supported several national and international conferences and events, including the PANOS Water and Sanitation Conference, Zambia National ESG and Sustainability Summit, Society of Women in Safety, Health and Environment – Africa (SOWSHE-A)’s African Women in Environment, Health and Safety Conference in Tanzania, and the AFRISAFE Conference held in Livingstone where the business received respective awards for its safety leadership within the country, the continent and beyond.
Zambia Sugar was recognised for its performance in the ABF Sugar Group. The business was awarded the Best Factory Performance Award and the Best Commercial Performance Award at the 2025 ABF Sugar Leadership Conference in South Africa, a testament to the teams’ resilience, strong leadership, teamwork and commitment to excellence.
