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Lifestyle

President Edgar Lungu has officially recognized and acknowledged the Zambia National Service – ZNS for its unprecedented efforts which will eventually culminate into the end of “street kids” in Zambia.

Speaking during the State Of the Nation Address – SONA today 12 February 2021, President Lungu stated that his government is addressing the plight of children living on the streets.

The head of state singled out efforts by the Zambia National Service – ZNS for providing camps for skills training for adolescents removed from the streets. He stated further that the ZNS program empowers former street and vulnerable youths through character transformation and skills training.

President Lungu stated that “ since 2018, about 2,000 street children have been removed from the streets and reintegrated into society. The training received include carpentry, General Agriculture, metal fabrication, bricklaying, tailoring and designing”.

ZNS which was once a youth National Service has been charged with the responsibility to use its vast infrastructure and agricultural land to utilize the nation’s demographic dividend.

ZNS in 2020 alone targeted 1,100 adolescents out of which 350 boys commenced their training at Chiwoko ZNS camp in Katete, eastern province while the 500 boys and 250 girls will this year commence their training at Chishimba and Kitwe ZNS training camps.

President Lungu stated that “ this exercise of ending streetism among children from disadvantaged families in our society using ZNS is a glowing success and unprecedented”. See also See other ZBT articles on street kids plight

Others Another article on street kids plight

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President Edgar Lungu has officially recognized and

Lifestyle

The banking sector in Zambia is mostly foreign owned. This has made these very important institutions less willing to tailor and offer solutions suitable to local needs. Most major banks in Zambia remain serving niche or select types of segments of the market.

One local solution to this need for locally tailored financing solutions has seen the Bank of Zambia – BOZ taking a bold step to support a concept and practice of village banking. Village banks today are seen as a future for building locally owned and controlled banks of the future.

Some of the key benefits of village banking is that it enables flexible and tailored lending at lower interest rates. Individuals and businesses which before were being turned away by commercial banks have a source of financing.

A group called Zambia’s Trusted Village Banking (Zatvib) has come together to help each other tackle some of the financial challenges that individuals are facing by saving money as a group which members can borrow and pay back with interest to keep the fund growing.

In order to ensure that members of the group that borrow money do not default or simply refuse to pay back the money, the group ensures that they have proof of residence, proof of source of income, next of kin details and find out from social contacts or close friends if an individual applicant can be trusted before they can access the money.

Moses Nonde, a finance consultant and founder of the group says the group, which has an interest rate of 10%, allows members to borrow up to K20,000 in order to help them invest in their various projects or business ventures.

Nonde says members of the group can borrow any amount though large amounts entail that they provide collateral which the group will not hold on to, adding that if one wants to borrow above a certain amount, such an individual will have to provide collateral which the group can hold on to until the money is paid back.

He said this is in order to prevent people from neglecting to pay back the borrowed money or simply failing to pay back. Other benefits for members is that they can borrow twice the amount of money they have saved. So, the more you save, the more you earn via interest and the more you can borrow.

He further said emergency loans which for smaller amounts as agreed by the members can be approved immediately without providing any collateral, but these should be paid back within one month, adding that anything above that should be paid back within a period of 90 days.

Nonde told ZBT that one of the trends observed so far is that most of the members of the group are females or women, as they are known to be more visionary and focused on the future as compared to men, adding that women are naturally good economists as compared to men.

This trend is a challenge to men to start saving more and avoid the notion that men mostly think of the now while women usually look at the future and plan for it, Nonde stated. The village banking funds have potential to grow to huge amounts provided controls are put in place.

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The banking sector in Zambia is mostly

Companies

The much talked about revival of Mwinilunga Fruit Processing Company by the industrial Developments Corporation – IDC which was planned for commissioning by the end of 2020 has been derailed and is yet to be commissioned.

Sources from Mwinilunga told ZBT that the Mwinilunga’s Kalene fruit processing plant completion had been delayed and the commissioning is still outstanding as the plant construction has not been completed due to lack of equipment which is not yet in the country.

And a check with the project management company confirmed that the factory is not yet completed. Project Manager Charles Chifunda said the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the progress of setting up the plant because productivity has been very low in the industry that is manufacturing the equipment in India.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Chifunda said local productivity has also been affected by Covid-19 as the work has been very slow including in India where the equipment is coming from.

He said he is hopeful that the plant that was set for commissioning last year in October will be commissioned in June this year.

“The equipment is coming from India and as you know India has been hit badly with Covid-19 and the productivity is very low because there was a lockdown, so the manufacturing of the equipment could not be completed”, he said.

Chifunda also noted that works on the Katete fruit processing plant have also slowed down as the equipment, which is coming from the same manufacturers in India is yet to be received.

Workers’ Compensation Fund Control Board (WCFCB), National Pension Scheme Authority (NAPSA) and Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) jointly invested in the revamping of the Mwinilunga fruit processing plant in 2020.

The fruit processing plant will not be restricted to processing pineapples, which is the major crop from Mwinilunga, but will also be processing other fruits such as oranges, mangoes and several other fruits that are grown in Zambia. The plant will have seven production lines including mineral water processing.

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The much talked about revival of Mwinilunga

Agribusiness

The Zambia Crocodile Farmers Association (ZaCFA) has revealed that plans are advanced for a new crocodile farm to open in over 20 years. This is despite the negative effect on the luxury leather market by Covid.

The Association told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that they are confident that the industry will turn around following the removal of the 10% export duty in the 2021 Budget. Export duties we’re previously imposed on export raw crocodile skins

Association Spokesperson and Kalimba Farms Chairman Bill Thomas said the benefit of the duty removal is that there is an advanced plan for a new [and commercial] crocodile farm to be open in Zambia adding that this will be the first new farm in Zambia for over 20 years.

Thomas said the start-up costs are large with little anticipated return for first three years. He stated that plans to open a tanning operation are at an advanced stage and trials have been already been undertaken.

“We are now confident that this operation will be fully functioning by the end of 2021 which will give value addition to the raw materials prior to export”, he said.

Thomas told ZBT in response to the query that the employment numbers in the industry have also increased by about 28 percent, with the addition of an extra 176 jobs since the removal of the duty at the start of this year.

He said the main reason for growing a crocodile is for the skin but there are by-products such as meat and oil and sales of these have continued to grow within the local market.

Thomas however noted that the overall number of skins exported in 2020 declined slightly compared with the 2019 numbers due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the luxury leather market.

He added that exports were also negatively affected because international inspectors were not able to travel to grade the skins due to travel restrictions. The Zambia crocodile farmers association members rear Nile crocodiles, with skins sold internationally for luxury footwear, handbags and garments while the meat and other by-products are sold locally.

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The Zambia Crocodile Farmers Association (ZaCFA) has

Lifestyle

The University of Zambia (UNZA) has disclosed that student who have completed Advanced levels (A-levels) will be able to complete medicine in 5 years. UNZA has discovered that students studying medicine and nursing sciences can adequately be trained within six years and four years respectively.

UNZA Public Relations Manager Damaseke Chibale said there was a review of the curriculum by experts and it has been found that the number of years of the two science programmes can be reduced and will be sufficient for someone to graduate with a degree.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Chibale said the students will be given the needed quality training adding that the institution has over the years realised that there are certain things that are not very important in the study of medicine.

He also said the trend in most countries is five and six years because the important thing is how the training is packaged adding that medicine training is a hands on programme and the first two-three years are spent in classrooms while the next three to four years involve practicals.

“Following the modern trends in medicine training and after strategically reviewing the curriculum, we have found that six years is adequate to train a medical doctor, so is four years to train someone in nursing sciences”, he said.

Chibale said the university keeps innovating and adopting the ICT technology so there was an exercise to review the curriculum and it was found that the medicine degree programme can be streamlined by one year by revising the curriculum.

He said the reason students used to take seven years was because they were doing A levels in the first year in the School of Natural Sciences because most secondary schools have no A levels.

He added that A levels require one to do the pure sciences so students who do A levels in secondary school start from second year when they enroll into the university.

“In a situation where a student has done A levels and they got maybe a B-general grade in all the science courses, this student will start in second year”, he said. He said with the reduction in the number of years for the programme, the student will only take five years to complete the programme.

He noted that for most European countries, students spend two-three years in class learning about deep sciences and after that they get into hospitals to get practical and learn about the applied medical practice which is the critical part in training.

“If you look at the US or UK universities training medicine, the entry will require that you must do A levels so that they don’t spend one year doing the A levels because they have already been done, so the degree in medicine varies between 5-6 years depending on the method of teaching”, he said.

The University of Zambia has reduced the years of study for medicine from seven years to six years whereas the nursing science programme will now run for four years instead of five years. This change is expected to flow through all the other public higher learning institutions such as the Copperbelt University – CBU and Mulungushi University which offer medicine.

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The University of Zambia (UNZA) has disclosed

Agribusiness

The Grain Traders Association of Zambia – GTAZ has revealed that there is a likely to be an increase in the prices of bread and other wheat products if the government does not issue a tax waiver for the import of wheat to cover the deficit.

GTAZ President Chambuleni Simwinga said consumers of the wheat products will have to bear the cost if the government does not issue a waiver on the export. The cost will be passed on to the final consumers.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Simwinga said imported wheat tends to be more expensive compared to locally grown wheat due to import taxes and duties, therefore the association has continued to lobby to government and is hopeful that there will be a positive response.

Simwinga said the government has allowed the importation of 100,000 metric tonnes of wheat  and people are importing from South Africa in small quantities, adding that it is still in the pipeline as people are still putting in place all the logistics that are needed.

“If am going to import wheat at a higher cost, I cannot suck in the cost, I also have to pass that cost to someone and that someone is a consumer, so bread and other wheat products will cost more”, he said.

GTAZ has in the past advised that there is always a deficit in wheat production in the country, which is normally supplemented by imports. The local participation in wheat cultivation has been improving but more needs be done.

The association disclosed that there is a reasonable number of commercial farmers that grow wheat but the biggest challenge is the cost of inputs adding that most of the inputs that are used are imported into Zambia.

Simwinga has noted that wheat farming is not like growing maize as it is capital intensive or requires higher investment to some extent, and this is because wheat is not entirely rain fed, it is irrigated and irrigation of a large farm is not a cheap exercise therefore there is always a deficit of wheat every year.

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The Grain Traders Association of Zambia -

Agribusiness

The Sub-Sahara African Farmers Organisation (SSAFO) says it has increased its birds production which is now between 3.5 million and 4 million birds and currently exports over 10,000 birds to the Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC on a weekly basis.

SSAFO Founder and President Munyaradzi Mulonda said the organisation does not only keep chickens but now has its own brand, noting that besides processing the chickens for export, it also supplies to the local market and has its own food outlets.

Speaking in an interview with Zambian Business Times-ZBT, Mulonda said the organisation has its own shops, butcheries, a meat processing centre in Kabwe and has employed a good number of people, adding that this is one way it has helped creat employment.

He said the organisation has grown exponentially from the time it started due to its in-house growth of chicken and outgrower scheme, which it has launched and has a number of farmers supporting it through the scheme.

He added that the organisation has continued to target the export market in order to earn the country as much foreign currency as it can through farming activities through export of chickens.

“We are trying to promote farming as a business and show that agribusiness makes sense, this project is aimed at empowering people with skills. Broiler chickens come as a day old chick, weighing 35 grams, takes over a six week period to grow and there is so much  that happens in this six weeks, all these things are being taught to our members. We are now talking about introducing poultry farming at a very large scale”, he said.

Mulonda mentioned that Covid 19 really affected the organisation and things have not fully gone back to  normal as some of the clients that it was working with have not recovered from the economic effects of the virus and this has also negatively affected the organisation.

He added that the organisation owns a printing press and had printed exercise books which were supposed to be sold in the first term of 2020 but unfortunately as the books were been marketed, schools were closed and all the expenses went down the drain.

He also said that some members of staff were laid off because there was not much to do and demand for our products was low during the lockdown, but later, we hired more staff as the organisation started to expand beginning of august 2020 and is now working in full scale.

Mulonda said the organisation is open to partnerships from individuals, clubs, organisations, associations, cooperatives, corporate and public entities who want to join the programme which focuses on empowering the youth.

He also noted that 2020 was an exciting year for the organisation as it managed to grow as sub-Sahara farmer’s organisation.

“We started with one programme which is the consolidated young entrepreneurs’ programme which is a youth empowerment programme for poultry farming, we have now gone into crop production”, he said.

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The Sub-Sahara African Farmers Organisation (SSAFO) says

Markets

Zambia should backs its local cross border traders to expand export or risks remaining a net importer and dumping ground for foreign goods. Local traders growth will directly translate into increased forex earnings and local benefits.

Speaking in an an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Cross Boarders Traders Association – CBTA of Zambia Secretary General Jacob Makambwe said there is need to forcus on value addition and agro processing activities if the country is to expand its exports.

“There is need implement the industrial development policy that will support local value addition and the agro process activities. This includes developing the packaging and export standards certification, so that Zambian products are accepted in especially neighboring countries”, Makambwe stated.

He warned that if Zambia does not have value addition, it will continue being the dumping ground for foreign products and all our goods are going to come from outside the country. The country needs urgently implement its industrial development policy and re-develop its local manufacturing sector.

He added that Zambia is now part and parcel of the African Continental Free Trade Area – AfCFTA which is an agreement to open up to almost all African countries products and service, which will introduce other market forces.

Makambwe stated that his association which has over 500 registered members need to be supported if Zambia is to meaningfully grow its exports and earn the much needed foreign exchange.

He told ZBT that currently, the association members Business is about 70% imports and 30% exports. But when you look at the exports, the numbers could be more as most local traders rather take their goods to the Zambia border side and these are then bought off by traders from neighboring countries who then cross over to their countries. So the export numbers are much more than the official statistics.

The cross boarder traders association has called on the ministry of foreign affairs to sign off more bilateral trade deals that can have agreed quotas and could be utilized to drive more trade especially by local traders.

And Mambwe said most of the goods that Zambia imports through small scale and local traders includes motor vehicles, motor vehicle spare parts, clothes and groceries. So these are some of the areas were Zambia can deliberately look at setting up local manufacturing facilities.

In terms of exports, goods originating from Zambia are mostly Agro products and Livestock. This is an area we’re the country needs to develop its Agro processing industry to get better value from exports.

He told ZBT that the most active borders for local traders include Nakonde, border with Tanzania, Kasumbalesa border with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chirundu border with Zimbabwe, Kazungula border with Botswana and Mwami border with Malawi.

He stated that “Nakonde is one of the busiest borders as its used as the entry point of most imports not just from Tanzania, but as a transit border for goods from as far as China and the Middle East. It’s also a transit point for goods destined for DRC Katanga region.

Chirundu is also the other land border which is very busy as it is a transit point for goods from South Africa to Zambia as well as transit goods to DRC. So the cargo that comes through Chirundu or even Kasugula also includes goods destined for DRC.

Zambia currently exports about 800,000 tons of copper annually mainly through multinational companies, but the export proceeds in dollars are not entirely remitted back to Zambia making the Kwacha Weaker and in perpetual depreciation fight.

It’s it is projected that if local traders were involved, the externalizations of export proceeds could be minimized as its generally a known principle that people invest in their home countries. It’s now known that there is no country that has been sustainably developed by another country.

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Zambia should backs its local cross border

Companies

PUMA oil Zambian unit risks having its operating license revoked after the company was accused of deliberately failing to stock enough fuel at most of its retail service stations, leading to creating of what has been described as an artificial shortage.

Energy Minister Mathews Nkhuwa during his fact finding tour of the Southern Province to check on fuel stock levels expressed his concerns questioning why Puma was the only oil marketing company whose retail service stations had no fuel when others had managed to re-stock.

The Energy Minister said he is disappointed with PUMA pointing out that almost all the filling station he had visited across the province had managed to get back to normal in terms of having enough stocks of both Petrol and Diesel at the various filling stations.

Nkhuwa said despite Puma having 70 years experience in the Zambian energy sector, its disappointing that the company is failing to order fuel in a timely manner so as to cushion consumers against possible shortages.

“Puma management seems not know what they are doing, the situation is disappointing since we need them to come through especially during this time when we are experiencing some level of fuel shortage as a country,” he said.

He said he was impressed with the fuel stock levels at most filling station except for puma. The minister noted that most filling stations had enough stocks to last up to six days. “Oil marketing companies have reserves for filling stations, while the country has reserves that should be drawn from in times of need”, he said.

Fuel shortages at some service stations started building up and was caused by oil marketing companies not ordering fuel due to high landing costs which was eroding their margins.

“So upon realizing that, government did consultations and afterwards we removed exercise duty on both diesel and petrol and zero rated the Value Added Tax – VAT so that the end user prices would not be adjusted upwards. This is why the current pump prices remained at the same price,” Nkuwa emphasized.

The Energy Minister has since assured the nation that fuel price hike was unlikely at the moment. “We would have increased the price of fuel, but we realize that if we increase the price of fuel, everything else will sky rocket in terms of pricing”, he said.

Nkhuwa however cautioned that the government had limited to no control over the two major factors that led to fuel increase. He cited the two factors as the Kwacha to US dollar rate and the international oil prices.

“So when international oil price goes up, it becomes very difficult to hold the prices down, if you look at the current situation, the Kwacha depreciated by about 51% and a barrel of crude oil has gone up from about US$40 the last time we increased, to now about US$53. These are the factors that put pressure on landed cost of fuel,” he said.

When ZBT reached out to Puma, regarding the threat of the oil marketing company losing its Zambian operation license, Puma Zambia Managing Director Pinchi Simukwai stated that he would issue a statement later.

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PUMA oil Zambian unit risks having its

Companies

Zambia is currently stuck and can not offload about 70 tons of ivory that is held by the government. The ivory held by Zambia is estimated to be worth about US$105 million using a lower band price of US$1,500 per kilogram.

A surge in demand for ivory in Asia has been the main reason behind the upward trend in prices for elephant tusks, especially from Africa. Over the past decade, the price of raw ivory has gone up from about US$100 per kilogram to between US$1,500 to US$1,800, creating a lucrative black market.

A check with the Ministry of Tourism and Arts by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT revealed that Zambia is still lobbying to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) for the country to offload its ivory stockpile.

Ministry of Tourism Spokesperson Sakabilo Kalembwe said the ivory is getting weak and the grade or quality is going down because of age, adding that some of the held ivory stock dates back several decades from the time it was confiscated.

In an exclusive interview with Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Kalembwe said that even if we request to sell off all the ivory, CITES cannot allow the country to offload all of it at once because most of the ivory may end up on the black market.

“We cannot offload all of [the Ivory] at once because this will create unnecessary confusion and other countries will say, why has Zambia been allowed?, can we also be allowed to afload all our stocks”, he said.

He also said that the ministry is hoping that the lobbying that the country has been doing through the Non Governmental Organizations – NGOs and various embassies that are around that are affiliated to Zambia, CITES will give Zambia a go ahead to realize value from the stocks held.

And a follow up by ZBT with the Department of National Parks and Wildlife through the Assistant Director for Conservation Management, Andrew Chomba, revealed that the country has between 60-70 tonnes of ivory stocks.

When asked estimate the market value of the ivory, Chomba stated that it is difficult to tell how much it is worth because currently there is no legal trade in ivory worldwide. “What is prevailing now is the black market price and that should not be the basis for us to value our ivory, so it’s a challenge to put an actual price to it”, he said.

Chomba added that if the country is to offload its ivory stocks, a trading partner that will be willing to buy the ivory will have to be identified and then the price will be negotiated and agreed.

When further reminded that the stocks are costing the government and tax payers money to be kept secure, Chomba said that he cannot put an exact figure to how much it is costing the government to secure the stockpile at a secure location, but stated that it is a costly exercise.

To hold the stocks, its a continuous exercise of getting new stocks. “We have to send officers on patrol in the bush to look for dead elephants, be it from natural mortalities or poacher activities. The aim is to collect the ivory, secure it and take it to the headquarters”.

“So the cost of the salaries, cost of transporting it to a secure location is quite significant as well as the security provided and the storage room which must be secured at all times is a massive cost”, he said.

Chomba further told ZBT that it is a challenging process to get where the country will be able to sell the ivory because the proposals should be submitted to CITES at the conference of parties. It is at these conferences were Zambia’s proposal must be supported by two thirds of parties for it to succeed.

Some stakeholders have proposed that Zambia finds a way to leverage and benefit from its huge stockpile of Ivory it currently holds. As things stand, you find that the country is being negatively reported for failing to settle debt obligations when it holds assets such as ivory whose value can not be realized.

Most African countries are in the end forced to burn down these ivory stocks as holding the stockpiles just end up as a costly exercise. This perhaps explains why our economies in Africa continue to lose value over time. Dear ZBT reader, What should the government do with the ivory?

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Zambia is currently stuck and can not