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ZSIC General Insurance operations are collapsing following the institutions failure to settle claims and refunds on time and as they fall due.

The Zambian Business Times (ZBT) can reveal that a lot of customers of ZSIC general Insurance have been left in the cold with some simply abandoning their rightful claims due to the back and forth explanations with no refunds or claims being settled.

A check by ZBT with the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) further confirmed that a lot of clients have lodged complaints after failing to get any assistance from the ZSIC management.

CCPC told ZBT that they have resolved a total of three hundred twenty-three (323) cases of people claiming not to have received their pay out from ZSIC General Insurance after the maturity of their policies.

As if that was not enough, CCPC confirmed that they still have another total of three hundred and sixteen (316) cases that are still under active investigations, confirming that ZSIC general has serious operational and management challenges.

CCPC in their response to ZTB advised members of the public that whenever consumers are faced with challenges relating to unfair contract terms, the first step which the Commission advises complainants to undertake is by following the normal redress mechanism which requires the complainant to resolve the matter with their respective service provider before reporting to the Commission.

ZBT has received information from members of the public indicating that ZSIC is taking its customers for a ride, giving endless excuses and back and forth explanations, all in the effort to avoid paying out genuine claims and refunds. Some further complained that even their reporting to CCPC is taking even longer for them to get redress.

They told ZBT that the cost of hiring lawyers is prohibitive in Zambia, hence other resorting to abandoning their claims and refunds. Efforts to get a comment from ZSIC proved futile by press time.

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ZSIC General Insurance operations are collapsing following

Companies

Jesuit Center for Theological Reflections (JCTR) says many Zambians are compromising on their living of standard as many cannot meet the required standards due to economic hardships resulting from escalating prices of food and non food items the country is facing.

JCTR social and economic programs manager Chama Mundiya said according to the recent Basic Needs and Nutrition Basket publication by JCTR, the cost of living has escalated to about K8,500 from K 7,100 for a family of five in Zambia.

She said a number of Zambians are not able to meet these needs, families are struggling especially in areas of high population density, in terms of income. Most Zambians have had their income remain flat while food and non food prices have continued to escalate.

The average household income in Zambia is bout K4,000 and people are resulting to having less number of meals which is already compromising them in terms of their nutrition.

Mundia said JCTR is advocating to government based on the finding of this living standards survey that the country needs to do more in terms of protecting the less privileged and those whose incomes fall below the basket to see how best people can enhance their income sources, creat more employment opportunities and review the minimum wage that workers earn for social protection.

“In Zambia generally, there are high poverty levels which stand at about 50% and low income which stands at an average of K4,000 per month per household according to the labor force of survey of 2019,” she said.

She said the basic needs and nutrition basket – BNNB survey is a monthly survey of prices for an ideal basket of goods and services that a family should be able to access. The focus is on a family of five based on the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZSA) average family size in Zambia based on the based on the living conditions monitoring survey of 2015.

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Jesuit Center for Theological Reflections (JCTR) says

Sport

Zambian Soccer fans have called on the Confederation of African Football – CAF to refund Zambia’s Football Association (FAZ) after the association confirmed that it had spent about K 2.7 million (about US$135,000) in preparation of the under 17 (U17) Junior Chipolopolo side.

The U17 Africa Cup of Nations was scheduled to be held in Morocco, before the Confederation of African Football (CAF) decided to abruptly cancel the tournament due to the covid-19 pandemic.

FAZ Communication manager Sydney Mungala stated that in football, all Investments made have no surety of guarantee and [its not yet clear that] FAZ will get a refund as CAF has not yet indicated whether there is going to be a refund or any other form of compensation.

Mungala said the team was in residential camp for over a month, and after been in camp for over a month, the team also suffered the travel costs to Morocco as the under 17 national team was scheduled to participate in pre-tournament session.

“There was a scheduled competition which was going to draw participation from the host Morocco, Cameron, Nigeria, a local club called FUS Sabat and the Zambia junior side”, he told ZBT.

However, On March, 8, 2021, when the CAF committee met in Rabat, Morocco to decide on the holding of the 2021 AFCON. They decided to cancel the tournament. The committee was made aware of the constraints faced by some of the association as well as the host country including the fact that the coronavirus pandemic continues to present significant challenges for the organization of international sport.

Speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times (ZBT), Mungala said it was a disappointment that the tournament was cancelled after Zambia had prepared adequately for it.

“We are disappointed that the tournament was cancelled but we had also offered to host the tournament as Zambia, I remember we hosted the under 20 AFCON, in 2017, which was a CAF tournament. However, CAF has not yet gotten back to us about what they think on our possible suggestion, so we waiting on CAF to respond to us,” he said.

Mungala further revealed that the under 17 national team will continue preparing as this was not the only tournament that they had to prepare for. He said the team is preparing for the COSAFA this year.

Though the Under 20 world cup has also been cancelled, the team will continue preparing and hopefully, the same team can be used for qualifiers for the next under 20 Africa Cup of Nations, because most of them will be eligible.

The Ministry of Sport and the National sports council of Zambia is yet to make their position known on this refund matter though its understood that the government of Zambia contributes financially to the soccer teams tournaments participation.

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Zambian Soccer fans have called on the

Lifestyle

The Petroleum Transporters Association of Zambia (PTAZ) has urged Zambians to be supportive of having more local fuel transporters as this will mean saving on foreign exchange payments out of the country because transportation of imported fuel is paid in US dollars.

Association Secretary General Benson Tembo said local transporters have the capacity to transport all fuel imports into Zambia, therefore government’s initiative of empowering local people with fuel tankers is a step in the right direction as it will reduce the use of foreign transportation services.

Speaking in an interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Tembo said the association expects more of such initiatives because for many years, foreign transporters have dominated the transport sub sector and the only way to improve the local transporters’ growth is by having such deliberate government interventions.

He said currently, the people who are actively involved in the transportation of fuel are not local Zambians, which means that the benefits in terms of foreign exchange are going to foreign nationals and flowing out of Zambia, which should not be the case.

He added that the association expects government to come up with policies or regulations that will see a reduction in the use of foreign tankers and transporters as is the trend in many other countries.

Tembo said there must be a deliberate policy to reduce foreign participation in the transportation of imported fuel because this imported fuel is for the Zambian public and Zambian based companies, therefore it should be able to benefit Zambians.

He said the petroleum industry has been talking about growth for a long time and such initiatives will add to the growth and capacity of the local transporters.

He mentioned that over 900 tankers are currently involved in the cross-border transportation of fuel and the only way the empowered youths will be able to see the maximum benefits of the fuel tankers is when foreign transporter participation is reduced.

Last week, President Edgar Lungu handed over 25 fuel tankers to the youths owned cooperatives during the commemorations of Youth Day whose theme was “Enhancing National Development Through Sustainable Youth Partnerships”.

The fuel tankers each costed about K2.8 million and were handed over as part of the Ministry of Youth empowerment programme. The hand over went viral with most youths asking how they can qualify for such programs while others questioned the criteria that was used to select youth groups to empower.

President Lungu disclosed that government has released funds to empower youths in all the 10 provinces of Zambia with 1,800 targeted to benefit from transport programs, 2,200 to benefit from establishment of milling plants and over 1,000 to benefit from agriculture related activities.

Zambia has no local petroleum deposits and relies on importing all its supplies from mostly the Middle East via South Africa, Tanzania and Mozambique ports. However, local privately owned companies have struggled to break into this lucrative fuel sector with most of it controlled by multinational oil marketing companies local units.

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The Petroleum Transporters Association of Zambia (PTAZ)

Companies

The Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation – ZAFFICO has been given the mandate to resume the trade in the famous Mukula logs.

In a statement seen by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, ZAFFICO has announced the commencement of of the purchase of legally harvested Mukula logs country wide.

The company had since started inviting concession license holders and holders of felling permits to engage the company and agree modalities.

ZAFFICO has further extended the invitation to companies and individuals seeking to sell Mukula logs to ZAFFICO to submit certified documents from the forestry department.

Public relations manager Irene Chipili further revealed that government has given ZAFFICO the mandate to sell the Mukula logs to entities engaged in value addition to Mukula logs as well as export to international markets.

The trade in Mukula had been suspended after the trade attracted all sorts of interest within and outside Zambia. Mukula is a type of rosewood which is currently highly sort after.

China and Vietnam, the two sighted to be the countries that account for the vast majority of imports in rosewood products from Africa.

The trade in rosewood between Africa and Asia has concentrated on a few species. The scientific name is Pterocapus tinctorius, locally known in Zambia as “mukula”.

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The Zambia Forestry and Forest Industries Corporation

Agribusiness

Zambia and the maize crop has a special relationship. While other countries depend on rice, potatoes, wheat as their staple food, Zambia depends on Nshima, as a staple food derived from milled Maize.

The price of a 25 kilograms bag of mealie meal is said to be a political issue in that the cost of living is generally derived from the average market prices obtaining at a particular time. Forget about the price of relish, the price of mealie meal reigns as the key barometer for the cost of living.

With the current rainy season which has hyped the expectation of even a higher bumper harvest for the 2020/2021 farming season, the price of mealie meal is at it again. Most chain stores and milling companies have hiked their wholesale and retail prices which most ordinary citizens are finding unaffordable.

In the top four provinces in terms of economic activity, that is in Lusaka, Copperbelt, North-Western and Southern provinces which ZBT has conducted some spot checks, the price of a 25kg bag of breakfast mealie meal is fetching between K150 and K170 and in other areas the bag of mealie meal is selling between K135 and 140 depending on the location.

So, if you are thrift and Saving between K30 to K50 per 25kg bag mealie meal sound viable, there is a way you can fight and avoid the current high price of mealie meal. You can simply shift from buying pre-packed mealie meal at say K170 to buying maize and getting it milled at your local miller (Chigayo).

Mercy Chanda, a resident of Lusaka who has opted out of buying pre-packed mealie meal but depends on buying maize from the local market and taking it the local milling plant (Chigayo) on her own, says she is not affected that much by the current high mealie meal prices.

She says most people are not willing to check for alternatives and substitutes whenever prices increase and this is what may be causing the big millers to increase their prices without consideration on whether people’s incomes have increased or not.

Chanda considers it to be cheaper to buy maize and mill it than buying pre-packed mealie meal from shopping malls and other retail outlets which she considers to be an expensive option. There is need for checking of alternatives so that these big companies can be thinking twice before increasing their prices.

She told ZBT that she does not spend more than K105 to buy 25kg of mealie meal because she rather buys about four tins of Maize at K20 each which, when milled, is able to make a 25kg bag of mealie meal. The price of milling then maize at the Chigayo (mini-milling plant) is between K20 to K25.

She told ZBT that prices in big shops and retail outlets are proving to be rather high and that she has since stopped buying most of the things from the supermarket as they are more expensive when compared to buying of the things from the local market and corner shops within the Neighbour hood.

“I cannot remember when last I stepped my foot into a shopping mall to buy my groceries, most of the times, I just go to city market and buy what I want because the prices there are far better compared to the ones at shopping malls”, Chanda stated.

With our busy lifestyles nowadays, it is very easy to feel trapped tricky and not pay attention to what other markets or retailers are offering and at what price. One may end up making the big businesses even more richer and whilst you remain poor,” she said.

And Chanda has also encouraged members of the public to shift from shopping from supper markets to local markets like Soweto market, Chisokone market, city market etc adding that most of the things are sold at an affordable price when compared to supper markets. Buying from markets will also help to support local businesses.

“Instead of people spending a lot of money in super markets just for the sake of it, they should also be checking out the local markets and verify the prices obtaining, so that they can be able to save their monies for future use, unlike over spending. Saving culture starts from small amounts.

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Zambia and the maize crop has a

Agribusiness

The market price of groundnuts has doubled from K4 per kilogram (kg) to K8.5 per kg between 2019 and 2020. This is according to COMACO, one of the key outgrower and active buyer of groundnuts in Zambia.

Community Markets for Conservation (COMACO) confirmed that Zambia is self-sufficient when it comes to groundnuts production and has a lot of potential to export excess produce to its neighboring countries.

COMACO said there is a high demand for groundnuts due to many local peanut butter processing companies that have been set up as well as demand from the neighboring countries, adding that its outgrower farmers produced 35,000 metric tonnes last year.

COMACO Monitoring and Evaluation Manager Edward Zulu told ZBT that the market price for groundnuts increased to K8.5 per kg in the 2019/2020 farming season, up from the K4 per kg in the 2018/2019 farming season.

This increase was on the back of the high demand for groundnuts because of reduced production as well the Covid-19 induced demands as many areas needed to buy adequate food products to stock up due to uncertainty.

Zulu told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that the production of groundnuts in the last farming season was relatively low due to erratic rainfall and the rosette disease, adding that some farmers experienced challenges on how to deal with the erratic rainfall and rosette disease.

He said these challenges can be addressed by increasing extension work and improving seed variety and breeds in order to have seed that can withstand drought spells and the local diseases.

Zulu added that increasing seed access and quality through seed multiplication,
increased training facilities, especially web based training and reporting can help increase production.

Zulu noted that despite the challenges that were faced by the farmers, 2020 was a year of growth for COMACO as it  extended its work from its core area of Luangwa Valley to communities around Kafue National Park and to reach new markets,  new infrastructure, processing lines and staff to grow the It’s Wild food brand was added.

The production of groundnuts in the 2019/2020 farming season had reduced compared to the production in the 2018/2019 farming season. According to official statistics made available to the Zambian Business Times-ZBT by the Zambia Statistics Agency-Zamstats, the production of groundnuts in the 2019/2020 farming season was 130,825 metric tonnes, down from 127,172 metric tonnes produced in the 2018/2019 farming season.

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The market price of groundnuts has doubled

Agribusiness

Luano Honey says the demand for honey has continued to expand both locally and across the world, making honey production and harvesting a viable business in Zambia. But the company has stated that honey export market requires huge quantities which require huge capital investment.

Company Director Miit Pandoliker disclosed that his company has made its honey available worldwide through its e-commerce solution where it offers free worldwide shipping. Pandoliker said the company is hoping to penetrate the export market directly to consumers by advertising in different countries and having people order the honey through its website.

In an interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Pandoliker said the company was exporting their honey to South Africa and Namibia but is currently not exporting due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but is hopeful that the recently launched e-commerce will boost company sales.

He added that exporting honey requires big quantities and that exporting quantities such as 1,000 tonnes of honey can cost as much as US$2 million, so the company is working towards injecting more capital and filling the financial gap so they can export such quantities.

“The demand for honey is there, we are getting enquiries from South Korea, South Africa, Germany and Saudi Arabia. People in Saudi Arabia have even translated our Luano Honey labels for their market, but currently we are facing working capital restrictions as the cost of exporting huge honey quantities is very high”, he told ZBT.

Pandoliker revealed that that the Luano Honey Company works with rural beekeepers who are mostly youths and women. He said the company only exported its first consignment last year, before South Africa and Namibia went into lockdown before the covid-19 pandemic hit, but is hopeful that things will be back to normal soon.

He also said the company is managing to keep operations moving because the rest of the world has been forced to open up and do business. We are getting more enquiries as 2021 progresses. Pandoliker said the company produced 50 tonnes of honey last year and plans to increase production to 140 tonnes in 2021.

He has however noted that production is at an all-time high but the company is not getting the actual value of honey due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which has negatively affected most businesses.

“Our raw materials such as honey are in Zambia but in terms of packaging, everything else is dollar dependent, so those costs have doubled locally due to the depreciation of the Kwacha, meanwhile the selling price of honey is still the same”, he said.

Interest in Zambia’s natural honey and honey from beekeepers has continued to increase with most local companies facing challenges to expand from local markets into the lucrative export markets. The cost of financing further remains a major challenge for the growth of local enterprise.

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Luano Honey says the demand for honey

Companies

ZESCO Limited says it will begin a countrywide mass disconnection exercise of all defaulting postpaid customers with unsettled electricity bills of more than 30 days.

According to information made available to Zambian Business Times-ZBT, ZESCO Public Relations Manager Hazel Zulu said it will begin the exercise on 1st March 2021 adding that this is in an effort to halt the debt growth and improve cash flow.

Zulu said the corporation is owed in excess of K900 million due to unpaid bills by some of its postpaid customers which negatively affects the company’s drive towards the provision of efficient services.

She has advised all defaulting customers to take advantage of this notice and settle their bills immediately. She added that once disconnected, re-connection to supply will only be activated upon payment of 75% of the outstanding amount and applicable reconnection fees.

She has implored the affected customers to ensure that their accounts are promptly settled in full in order to avoid any inconvenience that may arise due to suspension of power supply.

The Zesco public relations head said customers should therefore utilise the online payment platforms available as well as visiting the nearest Customer Service Centres to settle their bills.

 

 

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ZESCO Limited says it will begin a

Tech

A video of a male individual wearing Patriotic Front (PF) regalia has been circulating on social media. In the video the individual is seen standing on a bed that has K100 notes spread all over it and mentions the Information Minister, Dora Siliya as the person giving him money.

Meanwhile, Chief Government Spokesperson Dora Siliya has expressed disappointment with some people who are bent on tarnishing her name and that of government by circulating videos purporting that she gave people money to discredit and injure others.

Siliya explained that she has no idea who the person in the video is and that at no point did she give any person money to discredit or injure anyone.

Siliya said the videos are fake and must be treated with the disgust and condemnation that they deserve adding that she has reported the case to the police so that the culprits are brought to book.

Siliya who is also information and broadcasting services minister said such videos are the reason government wants to make sure that it provides a safe cyberspace for citizens to operate in because if anyone can decide they are going to take a video and allege untruth then nobody in society will be safe.

She said the internet has placed power in people’s hands and should be used positively and not to distract people from important national issues.

She also said she is concerned over the rampant abuse of the cyber space and has called for concerted efforts of all stakeholders to ensure citizens are protected from all forms of crimes committed in the cyber space.

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A video of a male individual wearing