Mazabuka | |
|---|---|
City | |
 | |
| Nickname: sweetest town | |
  Mazabuka | |
| Coordinates: 15°50′48″S27°44′51″E / 15.84667°S 27.74750°E | |
| Country | Zambia |
| Province | Southern Province |
| District | Mazabuka District |
| Elevation | 1,067 m (3,501 ft) |
| Population (2010) | |
| • Total | 71,700 |
| Census | |
| Time zone | UTC+2 (CAT) |
| Climate | Cwa |
Mazabuka is a town in the Southern Province of Zambia. It is the capital of Mazabuka District, one of the thirteen administrative units in the Southern Province.
The name Mazabuka originates from a Tonga local language word "kuzabuka" which means "To cross over the river". The name should have been "mwazabuka" which translates to "you have crossed". However, due assimilation, the name became "Mazabuka" which nonetheless translates to "you have crossed". It is believed that the name was coined after the Tonga people crossed the Kafue River near a place called Nanga during their migrations. [1]
The town is located in Mazabuka District, in Zambia's Southern Province. The town lies on the south east edge of the Kafue Flats wetland, along the Lusaka–Livingstone Road. It is approximately 135 kilometres (84 mi), by road, southwest of Lusaka, the national capital and largest city. [2] The geographical coordinates of Mazabuka are:15°50'48.0"S, 27°44'51.0"E (Latitude:-15.846667; Longitude:27.747500). [3] Mazabuka sits at an average elevation of 1,067 metres (3,501 ft) above mean sea level. [4]
The town has grown around sugar cane plantations, and currently it hosts the headquarters of Zambia Sugar, the largest sugar-manufacturing company in Zambia, with annual output in excess of 318,467 tonnes (351,050 tons) of crystalline sugar annually. [5]
During World War II, 50 Polish refugees escaping from German- and Soviet-occupied Poland, were admitted in Mazabuka in 1941. [6]
In 1990, the city had 24,596 people. In 2000, the town's population was 47,148 people. During the 2010 national census and household population survey, the city had 71,700 inhabitants. [7] The table below illustrates the same data in tabular format.
| Year | Population |
|---|---|
| 1990 | 24,596 [7] |
| 2000 | 47,148 [7] |
| 2010 | 71,700 [7] |
While being on the Lusaka–Livingstone Road, Mazabuka is also connected to Lusaka in the north-east and Livingstone in the south-west by the Zambia Railways line. [8] [9]
Mazabuka is home to two well known day schools, among others,in the province. Both are grant aided schools run by the Roman Catholic missionaries. These are St Edmunds Secondary School and Mazabuka Girls Secondary School. The two have the highest enrollment of grade eights(G8) from all the primary schools. Musikili Primary School is a private boarding school for children between 5 and 13 years old. Flamboyant School, is a school for children with disabilities and is located on the outskirts of the town. It is operated by the Mazabuka Association for the Disabled. [10]
Mazabuka is home to (a) Mazabuka Sugar Hospital for the management and staff of Zambia Sugar Plc [11] and (b) Mazabuka General Hospital for the general public. [12]
In September 2006 following a positive feasibility study, Albidon Limited of Australia obtained permits and approvals to mine Nickel in Mazabuka. [13] [14] The initial project development required more than U$180 million, which was funded by debt financing from Barclays Capital and the European Investment Bank and equity from Albidon Limited, JINCHUAN mining group of China and ZCCM Investment Holdings . [14]
In April 2007, then Zambian President, Levy Mwanawasa launched the Munali Nickel Project at a ground breaking ceremony. The mine would be built and operated under the venture's special purpose vehicle Albidon Zambia Limited (AZL). [15]
AZL commenced mining and production of nickel concentrates in April 2008. [15] Operations were suspended in 2009 because of poor market conditions. [14] From the peak of the Financial crisis of 2007 - 2008 the Mine would struggle for many years. [16]
It was briefly owned and run by JINCHUAN mining group of China from 2010. JINCHUAN would invest U$ 37 million and employ about 350 workers. [16] However, the mine was shut down again in 2011 due to cashflow problems. [17] [18]
A joint venture Mabiza Resources between Consolidated Nickel Mines Plc of the United kingdom and CE Mining took ownership in 2014 but delayed capital injection which led the government of Zambia at the time to threaten repossession of the asset. [19] [20] From 2015 the JV has placed in U$ 50 million investment to reboot operations at the Munali Nickel Mine. [21] [19] The Mine recommenced operations in 2019. [20]
The mine is managed by an all-Zambian management team and currently has a workforce of 380 people, of which 10% are women. [20] Munali currently exports over 10% high quality Nickel concentrate. The mine is expected to generate 3,300t of Ni in 2020, which is anticipated to reach 4,000t in 2021. Although it is billed as a nickel project, Munali also contains commercial quantities of copper, cobalt and platinum group metals (PGMs). [14]
See Also: Mining in Zambia
Zambia is a developing country, and it achieved middle-income status in 2011. Through the first decade of the 21st century, the economy of Zambia was one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa, and its capital, Lusaka, the fastest-growing city in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Zambia's economic performance has stalled in recent years due to declining copper prices, significant fiscal deficits, and energy shortages.
The Kafue River is the longest river lying wholly within Zambia at about 1,576 kilometres (979 mi) long. Its water is used for irrigation and for hydroelectric power. It is the largest tributary of the Zambezi, and of Zambia's principal rivers, it is the most central and the most urban. More than 50% of Zambia's population live in the Kafue River Basin and of these around 65% are urban.
Kafue is a town in the Lusaka Province of Zambia and it lies on the north bank of the Kafue River, after which it is named. It is the southern gateway to the central Zambian plateau on which Lusaka and the mining towns of Kabwe and the Copperbelt are located. It is located on the T2 Road.
Zambia Railways (ZR) is the national railway company of Zambia, one of the two major railway organisations in Zambia. The other system is the binational TAZARA Railway (TAZARA) that interconnects with the ZR at Kapiri Mposhi and provides a link to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam.
Southern Province is one of Zambia's ten provinces, and home to Zambia's premier tourist attraction, Mosi-oa-Tunya, shared with Zimbabwe. The centre of the province, the Southern Plateau, has the largest area of commercial farmland of any Zambian province, and produces most of the maize crop.
The Kafue Flats are a vast area of swamp, open lagoon and seasonally inundated flood-plain on the Kafue River in the Southern, Central and Lusaka provinces of Zambia. They are a shallow flood plain 240 km long and about 50 km wide, flooded to a depth of less than a meter in the rainy season, and drying out to a clayey black soil in the dry season.
The T1 or Lusaka–Livingstone Road is the main highway of the Southern Province of Zambia. It begins 55 kilometres south of the city of Lusaka and heads south-west to the principal tourist destination, Victoria Falls in Livingstone, via Mazabuka, Monze, Choma and Kalomo, measuring approximately 430 kilometres (267 mi). The entire route is part of Trans-African Highway network number 4 or Cairo-Cape Town Highway between Cairo and Cape Town.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Zambia:
Zambia, officially known as the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. The neighbouring countries are the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the north, Tanzania to the north-east, Malawi to the east, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and Namibia to the south, and Angola to the west. The capital city is Lusaka, located in the southeast of the country. The population is concentrated mainly around the capital and the Copperbelt to the northwest.
Chilanga is a township located 20 km south of Zambia's capital city, Lusaka. It is situated midway between Lusaka and Kafue on the T2 road.
Lusaka is the capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about 1,279 metres (4,196 ft). As of 2019, the city's population was about 3.3 million, while the urban population is estimated at 2.5 million in 2018. Lusaka is the centre of both commerce and government in Zambia and connects to the country's four main highways heading north, south, east, and west. English is the official language of the city administration, while Bemba, Tonga, Lenje, Soli, Lozi, and Nyanja are the commonly spoken street languages.
Mining in Zambia produces several minerals and is a critical part of the country's economy. Copper comprises 70% of Zambia's total export earnings, and the country produces about 20% of the world's emeralds. Mineral resources are distributed throughout the country. Zambia produced 763,287 metric tons of copper in 2022.
The Lumwana mine is a large copper mine located in north-west Zambia in North-Western Province. Lumwana is owned by Barrick Gold and represents one of the largest copper reserves in Zambia and in the world having estimated 5.014 billion pounds of proven and probable copper reserves of ore grading 0.68% copper.
The Zambian Second Division, also known as Division due to sponsorship reasons, was the second division of the Football Association of Zambia. But the league pyramid was restructured before the season of 2019/20 when they also changed the league calendar to match the CAF calendar. For the new second highest league see Zambia National Division One. The League consisted of 64 teams that are distributed into four zones.
Zambia Sugar Plc is the largest sugar-manufacturing company in Zambia, with annual output in excess of 318,467 tonnes of crystalline sugar annually, as of November 2018. The company stock is listed on the Lusaka Stock Exchange under the symbol ZSUG.
The T2 is a trunk road in Zambia. The road runs from the Tunduma border with Tanzania via Mpika, Kabwe and Lusaka to the Chirundu border with Zimbabwe. The road is the longest route of the country, as it is approximately 1,155 kilometres (718 mi). The route from Mpika to Kafue is a toll road. The route from Tanzania to Lusaka is Zambia's Great North Road and is part of the Tanzam Highway.
Kalumbila District is a district of North-Western Province, Zambia. It was named after a mine of the same name and was made independent from Solwezi District In 2016.
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