EMPOWEMENT OF YOUTHS WITH 50 FUEL TANKERS
“Sustainable options to operationalise the empowerment and avoid business collapse”
THIS year’s Youth Day was witnessed by what has never been seen before. President Edgar Lungu handed over 50 fuel tankers to different youth cooperative groups. The landmark empowerment to the youth is unprecedented in that it has never happened before in the oil industry and the country as a whole.
With a national monthly fuel consumption in the range of 130 million litres, Zambia’s fuel consumption per year is in the range of 1.4 Billion litres or 1,400,000 tonnes approximately. On average, the transport cost from Beira, Mozambique is about USD 140 per tonne.
Therefore, if all the fuel was coming via the Port of Beira (nearest of all the Ports being used by Zambia), we spend in the range of USD 200 million per year on fuel transportation alone. This is what goes to the transporters.
This is the size of the market our youths have been exposed to through the latest empowerment initiative. This is the cake they have been exposed to. The slice they will get is however dependent on a number of factors. Yet with good coaching and mentoring, they will be happy at the end of the day. They have to get down and get busy. However, to get started, there must be a focal person at the Ministry of Energy to take them by hand due to a number of processes they have to go through to get started if these processes have not been dealt with already.
Some of the questions I have been asked in the wake of this empowerment are focused on how to ensure that the empowerment does not collapse and the best model which could be utilized to ensure fair revenue for the youth cooperatives. The questions are valid because some of the empowerment efforts not just to the youths but to other beneficiaries as well have collapsed in the past. It is frustrating to see such efforts fall in the cracks.
It is for this reason that there is need to ensure that best models are analysed and implemented to safeguard the empowerment.
What the youths received last week can last a life time if well implemented and managed. First and foremost, the focal person in this empowerment process must arrange some transport business workshop, where one or two accomplished transporters can be invited as guest speakers so that the youths are inducted in the transport sector. At this workshop, which can be a day event, someone from the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) and Zambia Metrology Agency (ZMA) can also be invited to make presentations on the regulatory environment which the youths will operate in.
One of the quickest ways to get the empowered youths commence operations is to utilize what I call “The Placement Model.” Under this model, well accomplished and experienced fuel transporters can be approached to discuss the placement of the 50 fuel tankers. The experienced transporter must provide drivers, operations and maintenance (O&M), routes and coaching among other services as part of scope of works and charge the cooperatives a management fee. The agreement can be for an agreed period of time.
Under this Model, the youth cooperatives do not need to go through the pain and challenges of setting up and implementing systems, philosophies, values, vision statements, Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs), Maintenance Manuals, business premises so on and so forth. Business is a system. Business is also hard work. Business requires a new mindset. In my view, this is one of the quickest ways to get them started and to make them learn best business practice in this sector. They have to serve under a seasoned transporter for a number of years.
During this time, they will have to be very patient and focused and take keen interest in the operations. This Model is not a Lease Model where you give someone your vehicle in exchange for a fee at the month end. Under the Lease Model, the focus is money at the end of the month. They will not learn the business. Iam not advocating for a Model where their tankers get hired from time to time as they are yet to learn a lot of things in this industry.
Iam advocating for a Placement Model or whatever it will be called, it must include coaching, mentoring, operations and maintenance as part of management services by the experienced transporter for a number of years. Under this Model, a scope of work must also be developed for the youth so that they are involved in doing a number of tasks including soliciting for business and certain paper work. This is how we will build them as transporters in this industry.
The empowerment initiative has come at great cost. It must succeed. Success is determined at the beginning and not in due course. Business is a system and a mindset. To get them started urgently, they must operate under the operations and maintenance (O&M) of experienced transporters who can provide management services for the youths for a period of time. The ultimate intention of the empowerment is to see youths owning and operating established transport business in the sector.