The Capital Markets Association of Zambia – CMAZ has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that will see the two organizations partner and leverage the synergies that has previously not been fully exploited for the growth and development of capital markets in Zambia.
CMAZ Secretary who is also the Managing Director of Altus Capital Cecilia Siabusu said the country as a whole is lacking when it comes to financial literacy and the association would like to partner with ZBT to further educate the masses about the various products and services that are available for them.
Siabusu said many industries have been crippled due to the COVID-19 pandemic and as an association, CMAZ has continued to emphasize the need for people to save and invest for a rainy day.
Speaking during the MOU signing ceremony, Siabusu said people that have invested are not struggling as much as those who did not invest or prepare for such a time, therefore the need to educate and share information with more people on the importance of investing and the role that capital markets play.
She said the association wants to make the public aware of the various products and services that members of CMAZ are providing through this partnership with ZBT, as that will be one of the solutions to reducing the impact of the economic challenges people are facing during this period.
“Almost Everybody knows that they can have a bank savings account and everybody thinks that’s one way of saving but look at inflation now, inflation is over 20%, so if you are solely relying on money in a bank account, in the next one year, whatever amount you put aside will not be enough to buy you the things that you wanted”.
“However, if you are financially literate and aware of some of the products or solutions available, you would know that if you invested your money in the capital markets or in unit trusts, the interest you get will be around 20%, so you protect and maintain your purchasing power”, she said.
Speaking during the same event, ZBT General Manager Donald Mumba said the partnership aims to effectively contribute specifically to the growth of capital markets and generally deepening of financial literacy in Zambia.
Mumba said the need for establishing a developed and efficient capital market cannot be over emphasized if Zambia is to develop, therefore this partnership aims to contribute and add another chapter to the country’s desire to attain a faster paced development journey.
He said ZBT aims to partner with CMAZ to effectively contribute to the deepening of capital markets offerings as well as provide an independent platform for assessment and communication of credible and relevant information.
“ZBT as a business and professional media platform that has a print newspaper, a state of the art website as well as an active social media bundles via Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter now has a reach of over 200k (200,000) unique people per month. This MOU with CMAZ will enable sharing of critical and cutting edge knowledge of financial markets in Zambia to reach the existing audience and well as filter through to the general public”, Mumba stated.
