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Absa Bank Zambia has announced that it has reopened its Centro Mall Branch located in Lusaka high end Kabulonga area following approval received from the Ministry of Health.

The branch had closed temporarily on the 25 march 2020 as part of the bank’s health and safety procedures in response to the COVID-19 guidelines provided by the health authorities.

As part of the reopening procedure, the bank has ensured that the centro mall branch was deep cleaned during the closure period adding that the bank has deployed a new team to serve customers while the members of staff who normally operate from the branch remain in self–isolation and observation as per the ministry of health guidelines.

Commenting on the branch re-opening, Absa bank Zambia plc Managing Director, Mizinga Melu thanked its customers and the members of the public for their tremendous support during this period.

She told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT on April 3, 2020, that Absa bank further reassures its customers that it remains committed to providing best-in-class banking services in environments that customers will feel comfortable to transact in.

And Absa Zambia retail Director Harton Maliki said that “The safety of our customers and employees is of paramount importance to us. As a bank, we are doing everything possible to mitigate any potential impact across our network in all 10 provinces”

The retail directed stated that “Absa has implemented a number of proactive initiatives such as the deployment of hand sanitisers across our branches and ATM locations, enhanced daily deep cleaning of our premises, placement of social distancing stickers in branches and ATM sites, as well as provision of gloves and masks for our frontline staff”.

Maliki further reminded customers that Absa bank has many digital channels available 24/7 (online banking, mobile banking and the Absa app) which means that customers can do their banking without ever having to leave the safety and convenience of their own home.

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Absa Bank Zambia has announced that it

Mining

Zambia’s largest copper miner, First Quantum Minerals – FQM has not shut down its operations but intensified its preventive measures against coronavirus – COVID 19, allaying fears that Zambias economy would ground to a total shut down.

Copper exports account for over 70% of Zambia’s exports and foreign exchange earnings and the mining industry’s impact on the economy remains pervasive. The other key foreign exchange earner – International tourism has come to a halt on COVID 19 travel restrictions and health threats.

FQM which two large scale copper mines at Kalumbila and Kansanshi has confirmed that the global pandemic of COVID-19 has had immediate [negative] effects on the mining industry leading to a drop in metal prices on London Metal Exchange as mines across the world shut down while others go on care and maintenance.

FQM Country Manger Kingsley Chinkuli has told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT that operations at FQM have been affected as the closure of borders has affected inflows of inputs to mine operations and outflows of metal to the markets.

He told ZBT that despite the threats of COVID-19 on the mining operations, FQM has not shut its operations as it will continue to tighten internal employee safety and health measures and adhere to Ministry of Health guidelines and directives on the pandemic.

When asked to estimate how much the mine has lost in revenues and monetary terms during this COVID 19 pandemic time, Chinkuli could not disclose the exact figures saying the mines are still in operation hence not possible to determine the exact extent at this stage.

“Aside FQM, other mines have been affected leading to the closure of operations or simply sending their work force away on forced leave till the pandemic eases, however, we just hope that the situation stabilizes going forward as we continue to implement the measures which have been guided by the authorities,” He added.

FQM production numbers announced on 6 January 2020 made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, the North Western Province based copper mines at Kansanshi and Kalumbila Sentinel recorded a slight drop in copper production with annual 2019 total production of 452,000 tones compared with 476,000 tones in 2018.

Kansanshi recorded reduced annual copper production of 232,000 tones in 2019 while its production in 2018 was 252,000 tones, a reduction of about 20,000 tones in one year. Kalumbila Sentinel posted an annual production of 220,000 in 2019, compared to 224,000 in 2018, a minimal reduction of 4,000 tones.

FQM President Clive Newell at the time attributed the 20,000 tones drop at Kansanshi to lower ore grades. He stated that “Kansanshi copper production for the fourth quarter was in line with the comparable period of 2018 though, as noted in Q2 and Q3 2019, lower oxide ore grades and resulting recoveries contributed to lower copper production for the year compared with 2018”.

Kalumbila Sentinel copper production for the fourth quarter also reflected lower feed grades and lower recoveries due to transitional ore mined from the east cutback of the pit which resulted in lower production compared with the comparable period of 2018.

Zambia is Africa’s second largest copper producer from the Democratic Republic of Congo – DRC but the country boasts of having what has been described as the higher grade ores and sits on a rich copper vein that cuts across the Copperbelt region.

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Zambia’s largest copper miner, First Quantum Minerals

Mining

Kalumbila Minerals Limited (KML), a subsidiary of copper mining giant, First Quantum Minerals (FQM), has pledged to donate more than K600,000 (about US$33,000) of supplies towards efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

KML Assistant General Manager Junior Keyser said as a member of the Zambian community, the mine, will work hand-in-hand with district leadership in the fight against the virus.

“I wish to assure you that we are together as a mine in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic and shall provide the necessary health support that shall fall within our means, as and when need to arise. Our earnest hope is to see our country Zambia, walk through these hard times with manageable social and economic impact,” said Keyser.

The mining company’s pledge of K620,201 accounts for half of Kalumbila’s District Epidemic Preparedness and Response budget of K1,240,402.

He explained that the mine’s decision to donate in-kind was motivated by stringent internal corporate auditing procedures.

In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT on April 3, 2020, Keyser added that the pledged donation shall be made accessible through its Trident Foundation community development arm with immediate effect.

“As part of this pledge, we also offer access to our logistics and procurement systems to assist with mobilisation of the required materials,” said the Assistant Manager.

In the meantime, the mining company is providing numerous support services in its host community, including sensitisations support in 12 communities, provision of fuel for contact tracing and provision of transportation of test samples to Zambias capital, Lusaka, for analysis.

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Kalumbila Minerals Limited (KML), a subsidiary of

Markets

The Zambian currency, the Kwacha, has continued to come under severe pressure, recording a steep depreciation rate against the US dollar and other major convertible currencies leading to imported inflation and wiping out of value of savings and purchasing power of individuals and businesses.

Since the beginning of the second quarter of 2019, the Kwacha has weakened considerably to an average now (April 2020) crossing the K19 per 1 US dollar mark. At the beginning of 2020, the Kwacha had experienced notable pressure and was weakened by a relatively minimal percentage and was then trading at an average of about K14 per 1 US dollar.

According to the Central Bank’s (BOZ), Zambia employs a free market regime and that forces of demand and supply largely determine how the Kwacha trades against the convertible international currencies.

But analysts are now wondering whether the current state and impact of COVID has any essence of a free market economy to warrant BOZ to continue to hold on to its free market mantra? As things stand, the COVID 19 economic scenario can only be compared to “world war time scenario” in terms of the current state of global trade, travel, health and other financial and economic constraints being experienced.

To get views on how the market is keeping up, the Zambian Business Times – ZBT Contacted ZANACO head of economic research Dr. Patrick Chileshe, who attributed the recent depreciation of Kwacha to the weak external sector such as a fall in copper prices on the international market and the recent outbreak of COVID-19 globally as being among the major contributors to the current depreciation which some analysts have described as free fall.

Dr. Chileshe told ZBT in an exclusive interview that in the recent past copper prices on the market [London Metal Exchange] have dropped to below US$5,000 per metric tonne hence affecting the county’s foreign exchange earnings from copper.

He added that COVID-19 threats are also expected to dwindle the country’s economy further especially the mining industry as it has already showed negative impacts on commodity prices of all minerals on the market.

“Secondly, our inflows of foreign currencies are limited, our [Zambias] value of exports have been going down because of declining copper prices as well as production within the country which has been hit by a number of factors such as the shutdown of Mopani smelter which was under repair, the issues between ZCCM-IH and KCM, and the issues of import duty on copper concentrates from Congo DRC,” He said.

Dr. Chileshe has since advised members of the public to keep enough savings that can last them through the period of COVID -19 to avoid being under “a financial lock down” adding that the current situation has not only become a threat to the country’s economy but also affected people’s movements.

Zambia’s US dollar inflows through mineral royalties, considered to be a major source of forex for the treasury, is expected to significantly drop following the drop in copper prices globally. Minister of Finance Dr. Bwalya N’gandu recently announced the scraping of the copper concentrate import duty to shore up Zambian installed smelters output, but it remains to be seen with the global impact of COVID 19 if this move will bear results.

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The Zambian currency, the Kwacha, has continued

Lifestyle

The Water Resources Management Authority – WARMA has pledged to supplement the central government’s efforts in curbing the Corona Virus (COVID-19) threat through implementing and disseminating life-serving and preventive information to its personnel and the general public as approved by the Ministry of Health.

The Authority has to this effect identified essential staff that have remained on duty has it continues to fight vigorously to contain the spread of covid-19 in Zambia.

In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT on March 27, 2020, WARMA Public Relations Officer Joshua Kapila disclosed that the Authority has further identified non-essential staff who are reporting on duty only on a rational basis adding that other staff that shall work from home during the pandemic through the use of Microsoft Teams technology.

WARMA is currently working on modalities to send staff on paid leave in line with the Employment Code of 2019, in emphasis to keep staff safe from the vulnerabilities that Covid-19 poses.

Kapila also noted the need by all its clients to take advantage of its on-line services such as registrations and other services found on the Authority’s website.

He further disclosed that WARMA is providing hand sanitisers and washing basins for both its employees and clients, from the security point of entry to the premises, the reception, rest rooms and all offices to ensure that the working environment at the WARMA HOUSE is in line with the guidelines as stipulated by the Ministry of Health.

“We are therefore calling upon all stakeholders and the general public to emulate Government’s initiatives by implementing necessary measures that will ensure continued productivity, in ways that do not endanger the much-treasured lives of Zambians,” He added.

The Authority is further appealing to each citizen to play their respective rightful role in containing the spread of covid-19 in Zambia, by adhering to the measures which were outlined on 26th March 2020, by President Lungu during his national address on COVID-19.

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The Water Resources Management Authority – WARMA

Lifestyle

The United States governments has provided Zambia with US$1.87 million (about US$1.9 million) as immediate health assistance funding which will augment Government interventions against the COVID 19 pandemic.

This funding towards Zambias COVID -19 response will aid scale up programs and projects in risk communication, water and sanitation, infection prevention and control and public health messaging.

In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT by First Secretary – Press and Public Relations for Zambias mission to the US, Eric Mwanza on April 2, 2020, the assistance from the US government is an addition to nearly US$3.9 billion in U.S. health assistance.

The US State Department says in a news release that the new funds are a demonstration of the U.S. Government’s leading global humanitarian and health assistance response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We are mobilizing all necessary resources to respond rapidly, both at home and abroad. As part of this comprehensive and generous U.S. response, the State Department and USAID are providing an initial investment of nearly $274 million in emergency health and humanitarian assistance to help countries in need, on top of the funding we already provide to multilateral organizations such as the World Health Organization and UNICEF,” the State Department said in a statement.

Meanwhile, health minister Chitalu Chilufya has confirmed at a media briefing that Zambia has recorded a total 39 cases of COVID-19 with one death recorded as of April 2, 2020. The continued increase in the number of cases is raising fear that the disease is not being contained.

Neighboring countries are also reporting more confirmed COVID 19 cases raising fears that land border crossing may also join as a major risk of entry point for new COVID 19 infections. So far, there has been no direct comment from the Zambia Army on enhanced measures to prevent land and water border crossing especially through undesignated border points.

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The United States governments has provided Zambia

Markets

Financial analyst Maambo Hamaundu has observed that the country does not show any sign of its inflation dropping to a single digit in two to three months time. This is in the wake of the earlier Bank of Zambia – BOZ projection that inflation will rebound to a single digit in a second quarter (Q2) of 2020.

He said the projection for single digit may have been feasible before the outbreak of COVID 19 but BOZ now needs to consider varying the projection in view of the Coronavirus outbreak and its impact on the economy.

In an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT on March 30, 2020, Hamaundu explained that unless the impact of the coronavirus is cleared within the next three months, then a different picture could be seen. He said that in the short term, inflation rate may continue to trend in the double digit range even in the next three to nine months.

“I think as we go into April, May and June the inflation will still be in a double digit range and bound to increase even further due to this COVID-19. Because even when the country recovers from the virus outbreak, we are looking at the Kwacha, which has lost strength and this is further driving up inflationary pressure”, he told ZBT.

The question is, how do we deal with the inflationary pressure that will come from Kwacha depreciating against the US dollar and other major international currencies?, how are we going to deal with price increases on imported goods because we use dollar to import our goods into the country. The price of fuel could also be affected, and most of the consumer goods imported from outside the country will also be affected, Hamaundu told ZBT.

He said the BOZ projection that inflation would come down to a single digit of between 6 to 8% does not give confidence looking at the movements in the exchange rate and the performance of the agricultural sector.

The financial analyst also stated that Zambia is practically in a lockdown in most sectors of the economy, citing the closure of Bars, Nightclubs, Casinos, Gyms and other businesses that attract many crowds. He added that when recovering from this lockdown, businesses are most likely going to consider increasing prices of their goods and services to recover the revenue lost during the lockdown, resulting in more inflationary pressure.

“If we can work on our production costs then we can control inflation, but domestically how do we control our production costs which rely on the cost of fuel, the cost of electricity and the cost of labour. All these factors have recorded price increases, which does not give confidence of the national inflation rate rebounding to single digit,” he said.

Zambia’s latest annual rate of inflation for the month of March 2020 hit 14%, up from 13.9% reported in the previous month. This increase was mainly on an account of price increases in non-food items such as vehicles, airfares that are US dollar related. Non-food inflation for March increased to 12% from 11.6 % in February 2020.

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Financial analyst Maambo Hamaundu has observed that

Tech

As the country continues to fight against the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) which is now a global pandemic, debate has arisen on whether the country should proactively declare a country wide lockdown, implement a Lusaka city lockdown or simply continue with the current step by step measure prescriptions.

A lock down is an emergency protocol usually for an initial period of about 14 days to prevent people from leaving an area for reasons of protecting them from a threat. There have been calls from some sections of society and some members of the public following the trend were other countries have implemented lockdown measures.

With lockdowns showing challenges of implementation such as the practicality of social distancing for high density areas and markets, economic inequities with a significant share of the Zambian population who survive from hand to mouth requiring daily economic activity and revenue generation, the debate has continued with some sections of society insisting that government should proactively proceed to restrict people from conducting their daily activities with a view of mitigating the spread of Coronavirus via a lockdown.

The question is whether Zambia should implement the lockdown now or continue with its current step by step daily briefs and step up measures being advised. The difficult part is that this is uncharted territory and there are limited sources for sound information on how best to deal with the pandemic, even more advanced economies seem to unsure of which methods to implement.

From large to small companies and businesses, it’s clear that a lockdown will further strain their abilities to continue as going concerns due to fixed costs. Speaking to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT in an exclusive interview, Trade Kings Group Engineer and spokesperson Ernest Mande on March 27th 2020 explained that a total lock down will further weaken the economy which has already been struggling to recover.

Mande stated that a total lockdown will bring the entire economy to a halt. He said that the manufacturing sector is important to the contribution of the country’s sustenance and growth, hence closing down its activities will not only pose a threat on the economy, but affect the industrial chain that includes Small and Medium Enterprises – SME’s who are the majority contributors to the country’s economy.

“SME’s will become economic victims of the lockdown, meaning they will not be able to sustain themselves if their businesses are not running. Government is systematically moving forward and its approach on the preventive measures provided will help curb the spread of this disease, if only we as individuals take it upon ourselves to help fight this virus,” he added.

For medical experts and scientist, saving lives should be the first priority even at a cost of crashing down the economy. They have argued that any delays in declaring a lockdown may end up resulting into the disease spreading even further and beyond control.

A medical doctor and health expert talked to by ZBT Dr. Aaron Mujajati said it is difficult to keep the economy running at a cost of losing lives adding that the disease is now know to have the ability to spread at a much faster rate hence critical actions need to be taken before the situation worsens.

“Even if we decide not to shut the economy now, be rest assured that the disease will do it for us at same point as seem from the numbers which keep increasing day by day. Therefore, stringent measures need to be taken before lives are lost in the name of keeping the economy going,” Dr. Mujajati told ZBT.

President Edgar Lungu has indicated that Zambia being a landlocked country, is already under a lockdown as some of the its neighboring countries have already closed borders. He stated that the country cannot afford to declare a total lock down but will continue to upscale its efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19 within the country.

Cases of COVID-19 are increasing across the world and Zambia is among the countries battling to fight this disease by putting in place preventive measures and scaling up efforts for containing the spread of the virus, there is need for all citizens to get informed and engaged on how best each individual can prevent getting the virus.

For now, the decision on whether to proceed with a total lockdown lies with President Lungu and council of ministers led by the veep, Madam Inonge Wina working with other select team of ministers that includes health minister Dr. Chitalu Chilufya. They have a team of experts who are advising them on measures to take and the best approach. But the call is on all to do their part and avoid getting and spreading the coronavirus.

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As the country continues to fight against

Companies

The Zambia Revenue Authority – ZRA has exceeded its first quarter (January to March) target for 2020 by collecting K63.7 million above target. The Target for the first quarter was K13.1 billion and the Authority collected a surplus of K63.7 million.

In the quest to comply with the Value Added Tax (VAT) law and ensure there is liquidity in the economy, Government through ZRA refunded a total of K2.9 billion during the just ended quarter.

In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT on April 1, 2020, ZRA Corporate Communications  Manager Topsy Sikalinda said despite the overperformance during the quarter under review, the authority is already feeling the threat that COVID-19 poses to revenue collection efforts as the business environment has already been negatively affected.

He said this will have a serious negative impact on revenue collections in the second quarter and possibly the entire year because of the decline in copper prices that has already affected mineral royalty tax collections and projections for corporate income tax from mining sector.

Sikalinda added that it is also expected that all other taxes will be affected negatively but ZRA is optimistic that the strategies put in place will mitigate the expected negative impact of COVID 19 on the country’s economy.

“We have no choice but to devise effective strategies to collect more revenue as the Zambian people need Government services more than ever during this pandemic. We appeal to our tax payers and importers to be tax compliant,” He said

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The Zambia Revenue Authority - ZRA has

Companies

The Zambia Federation of Employers – ZFE acting president Mara Sakala called on government to start preparing for more interventions such as payments to business and workers to cover up to a certain percentage of wages for workers.

“The Unions is of the view that government should suspend contributions to the National Health Insurance Scheme by all employees,” she said.

And Minister of Labour and Social Securities, Joyce Nonde Simukoko has urged employers across the country to place their employees on paid annual leave or work from home scheme in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

Nonde-Simukoko said this should include those with few or no accrued days. She said in an event that the above is not feasible, when an Employer places the employees on forced leave, they should ensure that they are paid a basic pay as provided for in section 48 in the Employment Code Act number 3 of 2019.

The Minister said Government is aware of the impact of Covid-19 on sectors such as the Tourism and Agriculture where suspensions of operations have occurred, which invariably might cause a challenge on employment relations.

She was speaking during the Special Tripartite Consultative Labour Council meeting on Covid-19 held in Lusaka on March 26, 2020, monitored by Zambian BusinessTimes – ZBT. ‘‘This meeting has come at the right time to inform the labour market on measures to be taken to limit the impact of Covid-19,’’ she said.

And Zambia Congress of Trade Union president Chishimba Nkole appealed to government to ensure that employers comply to existing labour laws during the period of Covid-19. There is need for finding a sustainable solution as workers need to be paid but businesses also need to continue generating revenues.

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The Zambia Federation of Employers - ZFE