Zambia government buys Total stake in oil refinery

* Government buys 50 pct Indeni stake for $5.5 mln

* Plant now fully owned by govt

LUSAKA, Nov 4 (Reuters)- Zambia's government has bought French oil giant Total's (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) 50 percent stake the country's sole refinery, the 24,000 barrel-per-day Indeni plant, for $5.5 million, a senior government official said Wednesday.

"The Government now owns 100 percent shares in Indeni after concluding the talks with Total. We have taken over the 50 percent shares previously owned by Total," the Finance Ministry's permanent secretary, Berlin Msiska told Reuters.

Msiska could not immediately state whether Zambia would look for another partner or hold on to all the shares in the plant.

Zambia has been experiencing acute fuel shortages in recent months, owing to the collapse of a key refinery component at the 36-year-old plant, which threaten to reverse the economic gains made by Africa's largest copper producer.

Indeni Petroleum Refinery was 50 percent each jointly owned by Total El Fina EIF and the Zambian government and latest market estimates indicate that the refinery needs $65 million for recapitalisation.

Total last year told Zambia of its intention to sell its shares to another company but authorities in the Southern African country objected and opted to fully own the refinery. (Editing by Muchena Zigomo and Toby Chopra)