THE COPPERBELT UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
GROUP 4
GROUP MEMBERS : AGNESS WILLIMA 18127953

RACHEAL MUMBALA 18127400

CHEWE LUPAMBO 17113647

TENDAI TEMBO 18129480

KAREN KANDEKE 18124207

COURSE : STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

LECTURER : MR. JUSTICE BWALYA

ASSIGNMENT : ILLUSTRATION NUMBER 0.9

QUESTIONS :

a) Assess both mission and vision statements for ZESCO and CEC with regard to
principles of crafting them. How would you recast the statements if asked for advice?
b) Construct strategy statements for each of the two organizations in the case. How
does the notion of different private and public sector contexts play out in this regard?
Table of Contents
BACKGROUND .......................................................................................................................................... 3
ZESCO ..................................................................................................................................................... 3
Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) ............................................................................................... 3
FRAMEWORK ............................................................................................................................................ 4
ZESCO ..................................................................................................................................................... 6
Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC) ............................................................................................... 6
DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 6
APPLICATION AND EXEMPLIFICATION.............................................................................................. 7
CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 8
Comparison of Private and Public Sectors ......................................................................................... 8
RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................................. 8
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................................................... 10
BACKGROUND
ZESCO
Zesco limited is a parastatal company that was formed after the enactment of the Zambia
electricity supply act. It established in 1953 however, it traces its origin back to 1906 in
Livingstone when a small thermal plant was established to serve a small portion of the
town. ZESCO’S governance has evolved over time to one that defines arms-length
relationship with the Zambian government. Zambian government is ZESCO’S biggest
shareholder (ZESCO, 2019).

In 1994, the name Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Limited was changed to ZESCO
limited.

ZESCO is a vertically integrated electricity utility that generates, transmits, supplies and
distributes electricity in Zambia. Part of the electricity generated is exported to other
countries in the region such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, and Namibia.

The company owns nine hydropower plants with a combined capacity of 2216MW and 8
diesel plants with a combined capacity of 8MW giving a consolidated of 2224MW. It owns
the electricity transmission and distribution lines of up to 15142KM

Its services include prepaid metering and fault maintenance among others (Africa
outlook, 2021). To supply wide search of electricity throughout Zambia to other parts of
the region. ZESCO Limited has collaborated with various private players within the
electricity subsector.

It accounts for 80% of the electricity consumed in Zambia.

Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC)

In 1997, CEC was born out of the privatization of the ZCCM power Division, whose
purpose was to supply reliable and secure electricity to the mines in Zambia that it
sourced from ZESCO. (Copperbelt energy, 2019)

Over the years CEC has grown into a big company becoming one of the largest
international power traders in the region and owns, operates and maintains power
transmission asses servicing customers in Zambia and the DRC (Copperbelt energy
2021). Accounting for 45% of nation power consumption and co-owns and operates the
Zambia-DRC interconnector lines.

In January 2008, CEC made a giant to become Zambia’s first power utility to list on the
Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE) and remains the only one to date.

In 2009, CEC extended its business interests into telecommunications when it

commercialized its fiber optic assets collaborating with Real-time Technology Alliance
Africa (Pty).

In 2003 it became the first Zambian power utility to invest outside its own country
participating in Nigerian’s power sector privation and acquiring stakes in two operations
in distribution and generation it existed in the Nigerian market till 2016 (Copperbelt
energy, 2021).

In 2017 it became the 1st utility-scale solar PV plant developing and commissioning the
country’s first grid-connected PV plant with accompanying tertiary level renewable energy
development and management curriculum for human capital development and in 2019
was the 1st local company to be awarded a get fit Zambia project (Copperbelt energy
2021)

CEC and ZESCO have never been one entity or one being owned by the other they have
and are independent entities one in the private sector and the other in the public sector.

This paper will assess both the mission statement and vision statements for ZESCO and
CEC with regards to crafting them, constructing strategy statements for each of the two
organizations, and will further differentiate private sectors from public sectors in the
context of ZESCO and CEC.

FRAMEWORK
A Strategy framework is a tool that helps firms in this context, ZESCO, and CEC structure
their ideas and guide them as they grow and achieve their objectives (Creately, 2021).
Thus, there is a variety of strategic frameworks to choose from based on any scenario.
Therefore, with regards to ZESCO and CEC’s Strategy statements, the GAS framework
being the Goals, Advantages/capabilities, and scope will be employed so as to have a
clear understanding of each company’s strategy.

To start with, Fundamental goals describe the objectives that an organization aims to
achieve. They help define an organization’s purpose and serve as a reference point for
its activities. Fundamental goals are derived from statements that define an organization’s
purpose. Moving on to Organisational scope, Organisational Scope is defined as a
geographical focus of an organization or its internal activities. Lastly, Advantages/
capabilities refer to attributes of an organization or corporation that supplement its long-
term survival and competitive advantage in the market. These include both assets that an
organization has and the ways those assets are being used.

Having looked at the framework that was used to outline the goals, scope, and
advantages of an organization, a conclusion that the vision and mission statements of an
organization should be clear, short and simple can be drawn. The three principles (focus,
motivation and clarity) must be included when coming up with these statements. ZESCO’s
mission statement, “Making it easy for people to leave better” and vision statement, “To
be the hub of electricity trading in the region by 2023” define what an organisation does,
are credible and authentic and can be communicated easily, understood and
remembered.

On the other hand, CEC’s mission statement, “we are committed to supply reliable
energy and high quality services to meet our customers’ unique and changing needs
efficiently and proactively through robust infrastructure, diverse sources of power and
professional teams “ and its vision statement, “to be the leading Zambian investor,
developer and operator of energy infrastructure in Africa by providing innovation solutions
and building strategic partnership through committed professional teams” are effective in
terms of focus and motivation but they are not in the required range of 10-15 words in
terms of clarity. Therefore, the suggested statements that have been crafted for both
organizations are:
ZESCO
Mission statement: “To provide safe and reliable electricity to improve the quality of life
for all”.

Vision statement: “To be the centre for generating, transmitting, distributing electricity in
the region by 2025”.

Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC)

Mission statement: “To supply reliable energy and high-quality services to meet our
customers’ needs effectively”.

Vision statement: “To be the leading Zambian investor, developer, and operator of energy
infrastructure in Africa”.

DEFINITIONS
Having looked at the GAS framework which talks about the goals, advantages, and
scope of a company, and in this case, ZESCO and CEC, this section will now look at the
vision and mission statements for both companies and apply the GAS framework to their
statements.

ZESCOs goals are to be the hub of electricity trading which is seen from its vision
statement. By being the hub of electricity trading, ZESCOs goals are set to be the effective
centre of electricity supply in Zambia and the countries it exports power to such as
Namibia, South Africa, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe. ZESCO limited
has projected Zambia to become an electricity trading hub for Southern Africa by 2025.
The managing director of ZESCO limited, Mr. Victor Mundende said the power utility firm
would ensure that all customers had electricity that meets their needs.

In addition, ZESCOs advantages and capabilities are that it has various hydro electrical
power stations in Zambia. ZESCO currently owns eight hydro power stations in Zambia
and this eases their ability to power the nation. It also has professional teams to carry out
its operations and ZESCOs strongest capability is its robust infrastructure because it is
able to distribute power across the region using the high-quality technology that it
possesses.
Furthermore, the scope for ZESCO is Zambia and the southern African countries it
exports power to such as South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic
of Congo.

On the other hand, CECs goals are to be the leading Zambian investor, developer, and
generator of energy infrastructure. Energy infrastructure is the organizational structure
that enables the large-scale transportation of energy from producer to consumer as well
as directing and managing the energy flow.

The advantages of CEC are its ability to establish strategic partnerships with companies
such as ZESCO, which helps CEC with some power to supply to the mines. CEC has
been in partnership with Congo, and from 2013 to 2016, CEC was in partnership with
Nigeria. In addition, CEC has varied power sources such as solar plants. CEC obtains its
electricity from ZESCO and produces it using a renewable resource, biodiesel.

The scope for CEC is the Copperbelt and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

APPLICATION AND EXEMPLIFICATION

After looking at Definitions, this section will look at the statement's applicability and
exemplification for each of the two organizations.

To begin with, a strategy statement is a theme that defines the sole purpose of an
organization. It is an effective way in which an organization can best summarize its’
strategy. In order for a strategy statement to be effective, it should consist of the
fundamental goals, scope, and particular capabilities or advantages. In addition, it should
consist of thirty-five words and below as this qualifies it to be well revised, clear, focused,
and motivational.

In relation to Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO) and Copperbelt Energy

Corporation (CEC), the best way to construct their strategy statements can be as follows:

“ To improve the lives of the people by being the top leading electricity trading hub in the
region through sustainable, sufficient and efficient supply of electricity by 2025.” For
Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation”.
Whilst for Copperbelt Energy Corporation (CEC), “To be Zambia’s leading investor,
developer and reliable energy supplier by offering high-quality services to meet customers
unique and changing needs through its’ diverse sources of power and building strategic
partnerships through professional teams”.

The above-constructed strategy statements have the objectives, mission and vision
statements or fundamental goals, the scope, advantages as well as below thirty-five
words which qualify them to be effective constructed strategy statements.

CONCLUSION
Comparison of Private and Public Sectors
This final section will now look at the conclusion and, later, the recommendations for each
organization.

To start with, a public sector represents a segment of the economy owned and operated
by the government, whereas a private sector represents a segment of the economy
owned and operated by individuals and for-profit companies (Indeed Editorial Team,
2021). Thus, in terms of ZESCO and CEC being a public and private sector, ZESCO’s
primary objective as a public sector is providing services to all citizens whereas CEC’s
primary objective as a private sector is to maximize its profits.

RECOMMENDATIONS
According to the Lusaka Times (2018), ZESCO has been facing major operational
challenges for some time. As a result, some of the recommendations that we as a group
made to improve the utility company's operational performance are as follows:

Firstly, it is recommended that ZESCO should endeavour to add value to its customers,
as one of the focus areas. This can be enhanced if the company’s operations are full,
coupled with performance standards as regards safety, quality, and reliability of supply.
ZESCO as a company must operate strictly on acceptable business principles. The old
perception about parastatal work culture must be left behind where customers were not
regarded as partners in business.
Secondly, ZESCO's weaknesses such as high operational costs; poor revenue collection;
poor infrastructure, and low customer satisfaction levels must be addressed in light of the
strengths that the company had by targeting the opportunities in the external environment.

Lastly, it is recommended that ZESCO should diversify into other sources of energy based
on the resources available in a particular area. For example, if Kitwe is mostly rainy or
sunny most of the year, it is only logical that ZESCO puts up a power plant or hydro plant.

CEC, on the other hand, should modify its mission and vision statements because they
are not clear, comprehended, and are not in the acceptable range of 10-15 words.
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