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Agribusiness

The National Association for Smallholder Farmers in Zambia-NASFAZ has disclosed  that farmers in Vubwi and Mambwe districts of eastern province have started selling their soya beans at give away prices of about K150 per 50kg bag, when the price is expected to hit K500.

Small holder farmers Association chairperson Dr. Frank Kayula expressed disappointment that unscrupulous buyers are going into Mambwe and Vubwi to buy soya beans from farmers at K150 per 50kg bag even before the crop matures, a situation he has described as theft.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Kayula said the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has not set this year’s price for soya beans and going by last year’s price, which was K10 per kg, this year’s price is projected be higher, but some cash desperate farmers are currently selling their crop at less than K3 per kg.

He explained that the buyers are paying for the soya beans now, which they will collect once harvested adding that the capitalistic buyers are buying it cheaply as they want to make a lot of profit out of it once the marketing season is open, because soya beans is on high demand which is unfair to the uniformed small holder farmers.

“We just got a report from the cooperative leadership in Mambwe and said let’s warn the farmers all over the country because in the past, we have seen a situation where even standing maize, still green, not even yet mature, unscrupulous buyers go there and pay for it at very low prices”, he said.

Kayula said it is unfortunate that the smallholder farmers tend to forget that they suffer to produce their crops, noting that they should put into consideration all the cost of production and work that goes into farming before selling their commodities at low prices simply because they are desperate to have cash right now.

He has advised farmers all over the country to diversify and venture into other cash generating activities such as fish farming, chicken rearing as well as growing vegetables which can earn them an income throughout the year unlike waiting for their crops to mature once a year.

“Why don’t they do other farming activities to make some extra income, they should get that money as a loan and pay it back at bank rates and sell their crops to people giving them better money. Farmers should only sell when the crops are ready, so those are capitalists are being unfair and taking advantage of the farmers”.

He described the practice as “blatant theft” and whoever is doing that to farmers is a thief and we will engage the relevant authorities, he said.

The lack of tailored Agro financing remains a challenge in Zambia with most emerging and local farmers having limited to no access to affordable finance. Financing from banks is mostly availed to large scale commercial farmers while micro-finance institutions are charging exorbitantly high interest rates.

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The National Association for Smallholder Farmers in

Lifestyle

The Ministry of Justice has disclosed that K19.4 million (about US$1.1million) has been paid off as terminal benefits owed to over 820 former Zambia Railways employees after negotiations with their lawyer.

Speaking during a briefing in Lusaka monitored by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Justice Minister Mulambo Haimbe stated that the amount paid includes interest accrued over a period of time. The Justice minister disclosed that the arrears have also been cleared following successful negotiations between Government and the lawyers of the former Zambia Railways employees.

In 2020, ZBT reported that the Railway Workers Union of Zambia had disclosed that only 13% of Zambia Railways (formerly Railway Systems of Zambia) ex-workers who took litigation against government have so far been paid leaving out about 87% who took the dialogue route still waiting for payment of their terminal benefits.

At that time, Railway Workers Union of Zambia president Nathan Zulu stated that only 112 (13%) out of the total number of 866 ex-employees had been paid their outstanding retirements benefits and these are the ones that took government to court.

ZBT had reported that government only paid ex-employees of Zambia Railways who took legal action but left out the group that opted to dialogue to avoid paying high legal fees that are usually deducted from the awarded terminal benefits, a trend the disadvantages the retirees. See report on link Only ex-Railways employees who sued get paid

And Haimbe pledged that government will remain committed to clearing outstanding payments of terminal benefits of all former employees of government agencies and parastatals like Zambia Railways whenever resources are available.

He stated that the delay in paying terminal benefits to people who have contributed to the development of the country subjects them to unnecessary and avoidable poverty which his government aims to eradicate.

The Justice Minister has since called on all former government or quasi-government employees to remain patient as government works out modalities to clear any outstanding arrears.

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The Ministry of Justice has disclosed that

Tech

The Zambia Medical Association – ZMA Secretary General Dr. Roy Tolopu has disclosed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that fresh graduate doctors are currently not allowed to work in private hospitals or abroad without first working for the government.

Responding to a ZBT enquiry on why graduate doctors are not simply opting to join the many private practices and hospitals that have been opened across the country if the government has no funds to timely employ them, ZMA stated that there is need for government to put in place a lasting solution that will be allowing fresh Medical Doctors to work in the private sector or even abroad without having any licensing challenges.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times – ZBT- Dr. Tolopu said Doctors in Zambia are currently not allowed to work in the private practices nor abroad without first working in government to get a full license.

Dr. Tolopu revealed that graduating Medical Doctors are only entitled to a provisional licenses which limits them from working in the private sector or abroad. This is leaving graduate doctors with no option but pushing to work for the government to attain a full practicing license.

He explained that currently, the law states that Medical Doctors are required to first work in government for not less than 1 year 6 months before they can be admitted to any other medical institution.

Dr. Tolopu said the problem of having unemployed Doctors will continue as the number of Medical schools in the country has increased causing an increase in the number of Medical Doctors being offloaded onto the streets seeking placements with the government.

“Previously someone would just graduate from a medical school and the results comes out with an opportunity of a medical doctor getting employed, but that is not the case anymore.” He revealed.

The ZMA Secretary General further told ZBT that he was aware that government is capable of employing the 800 Doctors at once and if government do not want to do so, let it start giving fresh Doctors full licenses so that they can apply for jobs in the private sector or out of the country.

The ZMA secretary General said there is need for Government, Zambia Medical Association and other key stakeholders to sit down and come up with a long term plan that will address the challenges facing Medical Doctors in the country.

Unemployed medical Doctors on Monday February 21st 2022 staged a public protest with intentions to march to State House (the official residence and office for the President of Zambia) but were blocked by police.

The graduate doctors were demanding that government should clearly state when it is going to fulfil its promises to employ 11,200 healthy workers which includes medical doctor as promised in the 2022 National budget presentation speech.

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The Zambia Medical Association - ZMA Secretary

Markets

With the new Energy Regulation Board – ERB leadership opting to adopt a monthly fuel price review model, indications are that fuel pump prices across Zambia are expected to  go up beginning March 2022.

International crude oil prices have climbed up to an all time high of $105 a barrel for the first time since 2014 after failure of diplomatic efforts between Russia and Ukraine failed resulting into military conflict. This has resulted into crude oil prices and the resulting pump prices for consumers going up globally.

Analysts have predicted that the prices will rise much higher amid fears of major disruption to the global energy supply chain. Russia is one of the world’s largest producers of oil and natural gas and disruptions in its output whether as an unintended consequence of military action or as a response to international sanctions is expected to have a telling effect on energy prices.

Energy Expert Boniface Zulu has advised consumers to brace themselves for an increase in fuel prices as world oil prices continue to go up due to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. This conflict is also resulting in price speculation for crude oil.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Zulu said world oil prices are expected to skyrocket in the next coming weeks to the highest since the cold war because such disturbance has never been experienced since the cold war.

He explained that Zambia’s fuel prices would be adversely affected because it has been buying fuel from the Middle East and sometimes from Ukraine and the current destabilization that Ukraine is undergoing will have negative effects on its oil production, adding that Ukraine plays a big role in oil production.

Zulu advised that government should consider re-introducing fuel subsidies in order to cushion consumers from the expected high fuel prices hikes, adding that this also calls for Zambia to reduce its over-dependence on imported oil as the main fuel it uses for transportation.

“We need to consider electrical mobility; it has to be the secondary source of fuel that will enable people to move goods. We produce copper and it is the main material used to produce electric vehicles and electric trains, we should consider to start planning, designing and building these systems utilizing our copper as a country”, he said.

He told ZBT that there is no certainty concerning the extent of the expected fuel pump prices arising from the new world oil prices during this period. Moreover, the Kwacha has not been stable, which is the other lever that could help avert another fuel price hike.

The global economy has been battered by the Covid pandemic and just when it seemed that the world was adjusting to living with the pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine conflict has come in to pose yet another global challenge. Zambia needs to work out it’s own path on how to navigate these global challenges.

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With the new Energy Regulation Board -

Markets

Despite the overall reported annual inflation for February, 2022 easing to 14.2% from 15.1% recorded in January, 2022 mainly attributed to base effects, the prices of key commodities have continued to rise adversely affecting most households whose incomes have remained stagnant.

An analysis by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT of the detailed report availed by the Zambia Statistical Agency – Zamstats reveals that the devil is indeed in the detail. For instance, the price of the country’s staple food mealie meal recorded an increase in price of almost 8% between January and February 2022.

The Zamstats report further revealed that a 25kg bag of mealie meal was fetching a maximum price of K200 in Chinsali, a provincial capital of Muchinga region. Other daily consumer commodities whose prices have surged up include frozen chicken whose price per kilogram has increased from K41.07 in February 2021 to K58.38 in February 2022, an increase in price of about 42%.

Meat prices have also shot up in prices per kilogram with fillet and rump steak posting an increase of about 25% from February 2021 to February 2022. For the non food items, steep price increase has also been reported for bathing and washing soaps which have recorded price increases of between 27 to 41% between February 2021 to February 2022.

The recent overall increase in fuel prices coupled with the local currency – the Kwacha depreciation streak against major international convertible continue to weigh down and push up the cost of living for the majority of Zambians. The stability of the Kwacha remains a challenge.

The central bank – BOZ has set an inflation target of single digit by year end and a target range of between 6 to 8% for 2023. The BOZ governor Denny Kalyalya however hinted that the impending electricity tariff increase pose a threat to achieving the above inflation target.

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Despite the overall reported annual inflation for

Lifestyle

The Psychology Association of Zambia-PAZ says the phasing out of doom and other hazardous chemicals from the Zambian market can help reduce the number of deaths from suicide cases that the country has been recording.

Psychologist and Member of the association Kapambwe Chikontwe disclosed that countries like India and Singapore have succeeded at reducing the number of deaths from suicide cases by banning hazardous pesticides and have carried out studies to that effect.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Chikontwe said the ban should be done gradually by withdrawing hazardous chemicals from the market and replacing them with less hazardous chemicals, which would not lead to death if consumed.

He noted that people opt for choices that are more humane when they decide to end their lives, so if an individual’s first and last choice when planning to commit suicide is doom, they would go for a less effective chemical, which may in the end, spare their life.

Chikontwe said banning such products is a good move because it is difficult to restrict access to hazardous chemicals which are readily sold on the market, noting that the move should be backed by a policy and clear guidelines on how it will be done and relevant stakeholders including the Ministry of Health should be involved.

He explained that mental health conditions are the main causes of suicide because people experiencing mental health conditions are predisposed or vulnerable to self-harm. The Psychologist added that people who are depressed, schizophrenic, bipolar, have anxiety and substance use disorders are more vulnerable to suicide thoughts.

Chikontwe revealed that poverty, debt and bankruptcy also account for quite a number of people who have considered taking their life, adding that some people who are sexually abused also turn to suicide including people with low self-esteem who are not likely to share their problems.

Debate has arisen with some members of the public calling for the ban on doom pesticides after reports of most deaths from suicide from both adults and children are related to ingesting doom – a pesticide that is readily sold across Zambia. Efforts to get a comment from Doom distributors proved futile by press time.

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The Psychology Association of Zambia-PAZ says the

Lifestyle

The state of the Lusaka – Ndola highway which is one the busiest highway roads in Zambia needs urgent attention to avert the loss of more lives and property as most parts of the busy road is now posing a danger to users. A random check on the busy road shows that the number of road traffic accidents on this road are now officially an emergency.

And a check with the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has revealed that over 80% of the road traffic accidents that have been recorded this year are as a result of human error coupled with dilapidated roads.

RTSA Head of Public Relations Fredrick Mubanga said the causes of the road traffic accidents are a consortium of many factors such as the poor state of roads especially on the Lusaka-Copperbelt road.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Mubanga said RTSA is working on changing the bad driver attitude and is putting in place corresponding counter measures to address issues such as excessive speed and dangerous driving among others, adding that the agency aims to see a sense of responsibility among drivers.

He has warned drivers to desist from being a danger on the road noting that going forward the agency will start revoking driving licenses of motorists who are proving to be a nuisance on the road and disregarding traffic rules.

Mubanga explained that motorists who do not follow the rules risk being charged as that is an offence and the agency would also evoke the provisions of the Road Traffic Act No. 11 of 2002 that empowers RTSA to revoke licenses of drivers that tend to be a danger to other road users.

“I will give you an example of the driver of the fuel tanker that caused an accident in Kapiri involving a fuel tanker and a train. The agency is of the view that the driver acted negligently and violated the driver’s duty of care and we have since proceeded to engage such a driver to show cause why his license should not be revoked”, he said.

Mubanga has specifically warned drivers of public service vehicles, in particular those driving goods to be cautious on the road as most of the accidents involve distant trucks because drivers are having disregard for other road users especially those using small vehicles noting that all those found causing an accident with impunity risk having their licenses revoked.

“We have to take measures and vigorously tackle the problem before us. We also seek the cooperation of all road users, individual drivers to take it upon themselves to see that they promote or adhere to all traffic rules and regulations”, he said.

He mentioned that the agency has also enhanced the traffic enforcement operations and taken advantage of the period following the N’cwala ceremony to heighten its publicity activities and set out enforcement points to screen drivers who may be driving under the influence alcohol as well as drivers that are driving at excessive speed among others.

Mubanga stressed that the agency will implement Road Traffic Act No. 11 in totality to ensure that immediate ways of putting an end to the road traffic accidents are realised adding that the agency will provide the quarterly statistics of road traffic accidents at the end of the quarter.

Despite the efforts of RTSA, the route cause of the increase in road traffic accidents on the Lusaka to Ndola Highway is down to the dilapidated road. The road has developed big potholes which are not being fixed even through patching up. There are stretches were the road has basically become deformed and needs urgent and emergency attention.

Goods may be insured, but how many human lives should be lost before action is taken. There is need for emergency patch up works even as the long term re-surfacing is contracted as this will take time. The Lusaka – Ndola road is in such a bad state that even getting out of Lusaka, getting into Kabwe and getting into Ndola is so congested as if there are no authorities to come up with immediate solutions.

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The state of the Lusaka - Ndola

Agribusiness

The Dairy Association of Zambia (DAZ) is importing pure dairy cow breeds from South Africa on behalf of farmers in order to assist with meeting the growing demand for improved dairy cows as well as to improve the quantity of milk production among smallholder and emerging dairy farmers.

In an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times-ZBT, DAZ Public Relations Manager Sampa Chipemba said it is expensive and difficult for farmers buying in small numbers or quantities to access animals of their choice from out of the country on their own, therefore the need to work with the association.

Chipemba said apart from the actual costs of importing a single animal, protocols like getting an import permit, quarantine costs and insurance costs among others make it very cumbersome if one is importing a single or few animals.

He told ZBT that the farmers themselves purchase the animals and the association simply facilitates the purchase, therefore the farmers are bearing all the costs of ensuring that the animals get in the country. Farmers that intend to get high quality pure breeds should engage the association to benefit from this initiative.

Chipemba said the association decided to work with the farmers in order to lift the burden of the long process of importing animals on small-scale farmers and starter farmers to access pure high yielding dairy breeds.

“We have come on board to merely provide a service of aggregating the orders for farmers so that the costs are spread over many animals and at the same time access animals from reputable cattle breeders and suppliers”, he said.

He said the target is to facilitate the purchase of 200 animals on behalf of the farmers per quarter and the first purchase was in December 2021 adding that the association has facilitated the purchase of  114 Friesians and 27 Jersey for the farmers.

Chipemba mentioned that the next batch is expected into the country in the second week of March 2022 and then the subsequent will follow in June/July and September/October respectively. He has urged farmers who would like to purchase these good breeds to contact the association’s secretariat in Lusaka.

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The Dairy Association of Zambia (DAZ) is

Companies

The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has disclosed that of all the 39 cases it received concerning ZANACO, the Bank was not found wanting under the Competition and Consumer Protection Act (CCPA) No.24 of 2010, and that all the complaints brought before the Commission were fully resolved.

CCPC Public Relations Officer Rainford Mutabi said the commission investigated and concluded a cumulative 117 cases relating to the provision of banking and financial services in 2021. Out of the 117 cases, 39 cases from the public were concerning challenges to do with services offered by the Zambia National Commercial Bank (ZANACO).

In response to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Mutabi said the 39 ZANACO complaints that were handled by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission were all investigated. He explained that the complaints bordered on failure to reverse failed transactions within time, delays in refunding complainants for failed ATM transactions, queries on increased loan tenure/instalments, unauthorized deductions on customers’ accounts and delays in processing digital payments.

He further urged the public to report to the Commission all complaints relating to unsolicited deductions, queries in loan deduction periods and amounts, unfair clauses in contracts, delays in transfer/reversal of funds, over or double deductions for transfers/ withdrawals, display of disclaimers when accessing financial services among others were the financial institutions fail to resolve them in a satisfactory manner.

The Public Relations Officer however said, it is important to note that in a situation where a complaint brought to the Commission is outside its mandate, the Commission refers the complaint to the relevant authority/investigative wing.

Mutabi mentioned that the Commission handles cases where customers suffer continued deductions after fully settling loans, reversal of failed ATM transactions where funds have been debited, cases to do with extended loan tenures/increased repayment instalments and wrongful listing on the Credit Reference Bureau.

Other cases that the commission handles include failure to have access to funds in one’s account, unauthorized deduction on customer accounts and delays in processing digital payments.

He said the banking sector has continued to advance technologically and this has seen a potential in vulnerable customers being exploited due to lack of adequate knowledge therefore it is imperative that consumers with plausible suspicion of unfair treatment in their interaction with banking financial service providers come through to the Commission or any relevant Regulator (authority) and  seek assistance.

Mutabi mentioned that it is also important to note that the Commission, through Memoranda of Understanding with other regulators is also able to undertake joint investigations with other regulators. In this sector, the Commission works in consultation with the Bank of Zambia to achieve comprehensive complaint resolution and customer satisfaction.

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The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC)

Markets

The Bank of Zambia – BOZ, which is the central bank has admitted that the impending electricity price hikes to cost reflective tariffs will pose an upside risk  to inflation. Electricity tariff are expected to go up with the cost of connection fees already adjusted upwards.

Speaking during the Monetary Policy Committee announcement attended by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, BOZ Governor Dr. Denny Kalyalya explained that there are upside risks to the inflation outlook, which include increase in crude oil prices, initial effects of implementing the transition to cost reflective electricity tariffs.

He further stated that other factors that may lead to an inflation increase are the possible lower crop production due to adverse weather conditions, lingering supply chain bottlenecks induced by the Covid-19 pandemic and tightening of monetary policies in major economies.

The Governor noted that the transition to cost reflective electricity tariffs may also have short-term effects on inflation although over the medium to long-term, this is expected to have positive economic benefits through for example increased investment, supply, and access to electricity as well as exports.

The Bank of Zambia (BOZ) has maintained the Monetary Policy Rate at 9% citing the sharp deceleration in inflation and its projected continued downward trend towards the 6-8 percent target range over the forecast period (Q1 2022-Q4 2023) as one of the key factors in arriving at the decision.

Dr. Kalyalya said inflation is projected to continue trending downwards towards the 6-8 percent target range over the forecast period, averaging 13.2 percent in 2022 and 7.3 percent in 2023.

The BOZ Governor who is also the head of the monetary policy committee said underlying the projection are mainly the catalytic benefits of securing an IMF programme such as access to budget support, reduction of the external debt burden through restructuring and unlocking investments as well as the positive impact of higer copper prices mainly through the exchange rate.

Dr. Kalyalya further said that the committee has welcomed government’s medium-term budget plan (white paper) adding that the importance of successful execution of this plan is deemed critical to the achievement of macroeconomic stability, including low inflation and a stable financial system.

He added that in January 2022, inflation fell further to 15.1 percent from 16.4 percent in December 2021 largely because of improved supply of fruits and vegetables.

Annual overall inflation declined sharply to an average of 18.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2021 from 23.7 percent in the third quarter. This was largely driven by the appreciation of the kwacha against the US dollar and the dissipation of base effects, particularly for meat and poultry products. As a result, both food and non-food inflation declined to 24.5 percent and 12.5 percent from 30.8 percent and 15.6 percent respectively.

Decisions on the policy rate will continue to be guided by inflation forecasts, outcomes and identified risks including those associated with financial stability and the Covid-19 pandemic, BOZ reiterated.

 

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The Bank of Zambia - BOZ, which