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Vice President Inonge Wina has called for more investment in water and sanitation if the outbreak of diseases is to be prevented in the country.

Wina said investment in water sanitation and hygiene are a positive cost in social and economic returns and that they benefit the vulnerable group in society and prevent many citizens from outbreaks such as cholera.

Water Development and Sanitation Minister Dennis Wanchinga during the official opening of the 8th Zambia Water Forum and Exhibition – ZAWAFE, stated that water management is a core component of social and economic development hence the need to raise awareness on water security.

He noted with sadness the recent negative experiences that the country has endured as a result of poor sanitations, inadequate access to drinking water and the 2018/2019 drought spell and that government will put measures to minimize the impact of poor sanitations and enhance water security within its broader context.

He called on the ministries of water development, health, local government and the disaster mitigation unity to ensure water insecurity is minimized while access to access sanitation is enhanced. The government has declared the second week of June as the Zambia water week to be commemorated annually and nationwide.

And World Bank Representative Cestari Anna said Zambia is a country that is reach in water hence the need to understand the impact of sanitation to enable effective initiatives that would provide water security in the country.

She said the water forum creates a platform for the country to find the best methods that will protect water sources and improve sanitation.

This 8th Zambia Water Forum and Exhibition is themed “The impact of sanitation on water security in sun-Saharan Africa towards implementation of the sustainable development goal number 6,”

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Vice President Inonge Wina has called for

Agribusiness

The ministry of Livestock and fisheries has backtracked and again lifted the very suspension slapped on importation of various livestock and livestock products and animal feed at a meeting attended by over 300 concerned stakeholders at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka.

This follows petitions by various livestock stakeholders through the Zambia National Farmers’ Union (ZNFU) who submitted a dossier of resolutions outlining how the suspension was threatening to collapse the sector. The suspension was merely announced last week on 31st May 2019 by the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Shamulenge.

Ministery of Fisheries and livestock permanent secretary Dr. David Shamulenga announced the lifting of the ban on behalf of Minister Kampamba Mulenga-Chewe but that considerations will still be made to ban the importation of certain products that the country can manage to produce in order to support local business.

“Immediately after this meeting, we are lifting the suspension so that all the trucks that have been marooned can start coming in. Actually we had already allowed trucks to start coming through after we received reports of trucks being marooned by Saturday, but be aware that the ban will still be in effect on certain products that we will announce in a shortest possible time.

Dr. Shamulenge acknowledged receipt of the submission at the meeting but asked ZNFU to make a formal submission to the Ministery of Fisheries and Livestock which will be studied and a position taken on the various resolutions. He asked for dialogue among all stakeholders and urged other organisations affected by the livestock and livestock products suspension to make their submissions by next week Wednesday.

And ZNFU Director Commodities Fisho Mwale said farmers and other livestock stakeholders were deeply concerned with the decision to suspend importation of livestock products saying any delay to reverse the suspension would hurt the livestock sector severely.
He warned that supplies and feed would only last the country two weeks after which there would be trouble for the various players.

Mwale presented the petitions by Beef Commodity Committee, Poultry Association of Zambia, Dairy Association of Zambia, the Aquaculture Association of Zambia, Pigs Commodity Committee and the Crocodile Association of Zambia.

While calling for the lifting of the suspension, Mwale called on the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock to carefully scrutinize the submissions as some were calling for the upholding of the suspension of certain imports that were causing an uneven playing field in the sector and hindering growth of the sector.

The meeting, which also attracted livestock players from DR Congo, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique ended with the lifting of the suspension by the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock to allow business to get back to normal.

The constant u-turns by government agencies and ministries are blamed on the lack of utilization of the Business Regulatory Review Agency – BRRA, which spells out clear guidance on the requisite consultative and technical review process that is required before regulation affecting business is churned out.

The need to ban or increase tariffs on importation of products that are locally produced is an economic growth imperative but a few corrupt civil servants rush to issue blanket bans knowing very well that they will all together be reversed due to including of even other critical inputs that can not be locally manufactured on the banned list.

What will now happen is that the goods which are locally available which should have been banned with proper consultation and research will fall into the cracks and the ban or tariff increment be deferred indefinitely, weakening the growth prospects of local livestock sector growth in the medium to long term.

Concerned citizens and members of the public have called for accountability, taking of action on the civil servants that issue these half baked and un-researched bans only to profit from the embarrassing government policy u-turns.

Most cattle ranchers and livestock farmers generally have complained of cheap imports and sub-standard beef and other products that have been getting smuggled into the country disadvantaging the local farmers who are cable of satisfying the local market.

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The ministry of Livestock and fisheries has

Tech

Power rationing has now become an imperative at Lake Kariba dam hydro power station, a shared and major hydro power generation plant between Zambia and Zimbabwe, has recorded water levels dropping to a record 30%.

According to Information by the Zambezi River Authority obtained by the Zambia National Farmers Union – ZNFU and availed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, the lake water level continued receding dropping by 7cm during the week under review before closing at 479.80 metres (30% usable storage) on 7th June 2019.

Last year on the same date, the Lake level was at 486.49 metres representing about 7% difference compared to this year.

And the Jesuit Center for Theological Reflection (JCTR) has urged Government through ZESCO to logically implement the load shading strategy in a manner that will not adversely affect strategic businesses such as small and medium scale businesses where the majority local Zambians strive to make a living.

The center says load shedding will result in reduced production in various sectors such as mining, employee retrenchments and loss of income for majority small business.

JCTR Executive Director Fr. Emmanuel Mumba said most affected will be those that could not invest in alternative energy sources and will experience increased production cost and subsequent price increases of basic commodity for those that invested in alternative additional sources of energy.

Father Mumba said the consequences of reduced output in various sectors and businesses will likely be lay-off of workers, loss of income among families, reduction in government revenue to be collected and reduced foreign exchange.

“Currently, the mining sector is the major driver of the Zambian economy, and any disruptions in its production capacity will have serious and domino negative implications on the performance of the local currency and Zambian economy. Already, in the recent past, the Kwacha has faced serious challenges against major currencies such as the US dollar”, Father Mumba said.

The JCTR Executive Director has since wondered if the monopoly of electricity production by a government parastatal still has room in a globalized economy.

Zambia has relied heavily on hydro electricity generation which is prone to climate change effects such is low rainfall that impacts on production. Efforts to invest into other energy sources such as solar by the Industrial Development Corporation – IDC have started but the rate of implementation needs to be speeded up.

Nuclear energy is another source were Zambia has engaged Russia’s Rosatom as the country is reported to have sizeable uranium deposits. This project is however long term and have a development to production horizon of about 10 years and above.

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Power rationing has now become an imperative

Lifestyle

Lafarge Zambia has announced that the 6th cycle of the international competition for LafargeHolcim awards is now open for entries until February 2020. The awards recognize leading projects by professionals and bold ideas from the next generation that combine sustainable construction solutions with architectural excellence.

The awards offer a total of US$2 million in prize money and foreground projects funding for concepts from architecture, engineering, urban planning, materials and construction technology, and related fields.

In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT by Lafarge Communications and Corporate Affairs Manager Glenda Kamalata, Lafarge stated that the competition promotes circular thinking and the reduction of carbon dioxide – CO2 emissions across all disciplines.

The awards also seek to it identify ideas with the highest potential to tackle today’s challenges to increasing urbanization and improving the quality of life. The awards next generation category seeks visionary design concepts and bold ideas at a preliminary stage of design, including design studio and research work.

The statement issued to ZBT stated that submissions in the LafargeHolcim awards main category include sustainable construction projects at an advanced stage of design with a high probability of realization.

For one to qualify to participate in the different categories available, authors need not be older than 30 years, however students and young professionals are invited to enter the awards main category with projects that have reached an advanced stage of design.

Since 2003, the LafargeHolcim Foundation advances the discourse on sustainable construction mainly through its wards, the world’s most significant competition for sustainable design.

The foundation is an initiative of LafargeHolcim, the global leader in building materials and solutions. It operates four business segments which are Cement, Aggregates, Ready-Mix Concrete and Solutions & Products, which includes precast concrete, asphalt, mortar and building solutions affordable housing.

LafargeHolcim is listed on the Swiss Exchange and on Euronext Paris and is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) European Index.

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Lafarge Zambia has announced that the 6th

Agribusiness

Finance minister Margerate Mwanakatwe has stated that the new sales tax regime will encourage local production of goods and services. She said that the differentiated sales tax have been adopted at 16% on imported finished products and 9% on locally manufactured products in order to support the local industry.

And the Zambia National Farmers Union – ZNFU has called on government through the ministry of finance and its agency the Zambia Revenue Authority – ZRA to consider challenges the agriculture sector is facing before the goods and services tax – GST (also referred to as simply sales tax) comes into effect.

ZNFU president Jervis Zimba said the agriculture sector performance has generally gone down with 30 % of the commercial farming sector credit facilities cited as non-performing by the regulators of the banking sector, the bank of Zambia – BOZ.

Speaking during a sales tax consultative meeting with Minister of Finance Margret Mwanakatwe in Lusaka on June 7, 2019, Zimba said that there is need for the government to approach GST implementation with great caution to avoid introducing new costs on a sector that is already struggling.

And Minister of Finance Margret Mwanakatwe said the decision by government to abolish the Value Added Tax – VAT and replace it with Sales Tax is necessary to stop the refunds debt escalation, create fiscal space, pay the outstanding VAT refunds and increase revenue collection to support government’s socio-economic development.

“The agriculture sector can rest be assured that all the exemptions that you received under VAT will be carried over to the sales tax regime and reconciliations will be undertaken to close off VAT and a plan will be put in place of how to liquidate the verified refunds,” she said.

Speaking at the same event Zambia Revenue Authority – ZRA Commissioner for Domestic Taxes Moses Shuko said the performance of VAT has not grown as expected as there is little value addition in the Zambian economy adding that the large part of Zambia’s economy is informal hence it can only work better in economies with a large formal sector.

Shuko also stated that sales tax is easier to administer as it does not require complicated techniques for record keeping and accounting for the businesses. He added that sales tax does not lead to tax refunds and resources for businesses do not get locked up in refunds as government does not collect money which does not belong to it.

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Finance minister Margerate Mwanakatwe has stated that

Tech

The Drug Enforcement Commission – DEC is calling for the review of operations of the Financial Intelligence Center – FIC if alleged financial crimes can conclusively be executed.

DEC commissioner Alita Mbawe is concerned that the publication of raw intelligence data by FIC to the general public jeopardizes investigations by law enforcement agencies as perpetrators are “tipped off” and begin to destroy vital evidence while suspected foreign nationals exit from the country.

Mbawe is hopeful that the FIC will review how it conducts its operations to avoid compromising investigation as well as creating a false impressions.

“The intelligence reports disseminated to law enforcement agencies such as DEC sometimes turn out to be false on enquiry leading to closure of cases, a situation which is always misconstrued as inaction by investigative wings. It is, therefore, important that information is disseminated to the rightful audience in line with a well thought out communication strategy to avoid speculation and under pressure on Investigative Wings, she said

Meanwhile, Mbawe has disclosed that the commission received 16 cases involving K22 million out of those disseminated by FIC to Law enforcement agencies but that those cases are not part of the 308 that the commission received between January to December 2018.

She said that what was indicated in the FIC report was not what was on the ground hence the commission has closed some cases on false inquiry.

She added that there are 16 cases that are currently under investigation at various stages and that the commission will update members of the public on the action taken at an opportune and appropriate time in order to avoid jeopardizing the legal prospects of the cases.

She further stated that DEC will remain committed to the fight against money laundering and other related financial crimes which negatively affect the nation’s economic development and that it also remain open to collaborate with all stakeholders in order to effectively enforce the law for the betterment of the nation.

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The Drug Enforcement Commission – DEC is

Markets

Minister of Trade Christopher Yaluma says Government will not rush into signing the African Continental Free Trade Area – AfCFTA until stakeholder consultation is complete.

Speaking upon arrival in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, Yaluma stated that Zambia will not rush to ratify the AfCTA agreement to be done before the forthcoming July African Union Heads of States Summit.

He said the wide consultation is meant to ensure that the country instituted mechanisms to ensure that Zambia does not become a dumping site for substandard products.

In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT by Press Secretary Inutu Mwanza, Yaluma said the consultative process with relevant stakeholders is still on-going and has not been exhausted to warrant ratification during the operationalization of the AfCTA at next month’s summit.

He said government wants to obtain full endorsement from the private sector as they will be the major drivers of the programme.

The Minister added that the signing of the AfCFTA framework by President Lungu in March was testimony that Zambia was committed to being part of the single largest market in Africa.

The Minister who is in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a consultative meeting on the AfCFTA however said that there is a possibility that Government could table the AfCFTA for ratification before Parliament in August.

He said Zambia understands the importance of being part of the single largest market and wants the private sector in the country to drive the process. Zambia’s Trade Minister was received in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, Emmanuel Mwamba.

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Minister of Trade Christopher Yaluma says Government

Markets

Barclay’s Bank Zambia Limited has invested US$ 25 million into the construction of its new head office and its brand transitioning to Absa Bank, a project to be undertaken within 18-24 months.

Barclays Bank Zambia Board Chairperson Chishala Kateka says the bank will continue to support key sectors of the economy that support the country’s growth development agenda even as it transitions into Absa group.

Speaking during the commissioning of the construction of the new Absa head office in Lusaka at the former Barclay’s Sports Complex attended by the Zambian Times – ZBT, Kateka said the construction of the new head office for Barclays Bank plc to be rebranded as Absa Bank Zambia is a demonstration of the efforts and commitment to become a Pan-Africa organization that is interested in the sustainable development of the financial sector.

She added that the Bank will further continues to invest in technology and provide services that bridge the financial gap and impart skills that will elevate the lives of many Zambians.

At the same event, Barclays Bank Zambia Managing Director, Mizinga Melu stated that the bank  has demonstrated its long term commitment to Zambia.

Officiating the event, Bank of Zambia – BOZ Governor Dr. Denny Kalyalya said the investment of US$ 25 million by the bank in the new head office complex demonstrates that the local economy is ready for major investments.

Dr Kalyalya however challenged Barclays Bank Zambia and Absa Group to explore ways in which the bank can partner with Zambia in addressing some of the challenges facing the country such as load shedding, saying it has potential to negatively impact the country’s economic growth.

“It is our expectation that Barclays Bank Zambia and Absa group will come up with products and services that will contribute to the enhancement of alternative energy sources to mitigate the threat on economic growth and indeed financial stability arising from load shedding,” Kalyalya stated.

He added that Barclays bank is also expected to continue supporting SME’s in the country as the sector is key to sustainable development and economic growth.

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Barclay’s Bank Zambia Limited has invested US$

Tech

The Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organisation – NEPIO says the coming of the Centre for Nuclear Science and Technology – CNST and Nuclear Power Plant – NPP will help contribute to the diversification Zambia’s economy.

Last year, the Zambian Government and Russia’s Rosatom signed a contract for the construction of a Center for Nuclear Science and Technology – CNST to be located in Chongwe. Head of NEPIO Dr. Roland Msiska said the establishment of the Nuclear Research Centre in Chongwe would add value to gemstones through enhanced coloration for local and export markets.

In a statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT by NEPIO head of Public Awareness Chisha Mutale, Dr. Msiska said the Research Reactor Facility at the Centre would also be used for neutron activation analysis, mineral characterization of various ore and detection of undeclared minerals thereby increasing mineral taxation.

He said the establishment of the nuclear centre in Zambia would enhance the capability to export products into the European market adding that most of the European countries have set standards that require agricultural product coming into their markets to be gamma irradiated that eliminates insects.

“You do recall that at one time, the South African Government had banned our honey products from entering their country. The reason behind their decision was because our honey was not gamma irradiated. However, with the coming of this Centre, such bans will not affect us anymore, “he said.

He added that the Centre would also be used for the treatment of cancer patients and easy detection of leaking pipes using isotope techniques and production of chips for computers and cell phones.

Dr. Msiska also noted that the decision by government to include nuclear energy in the country’s energy mix came as a result of the severe drought the country had experienced during the 2015/2016 rain season. He said the drought resulted in a reduction of the country’s economic growth by 40%, prompting Government to explore other power sources such as nuclear energy, which is not adversely affected by weather. He further said Nuclear energy is not here to replace other renewable energies such as solar and hydro power but will be part of the energy mix of the country.

On the 21st of December 2018 ROSATOM handed over the final report on the assessment of nuclear infrastructure in the Republic of Zambia to Minister of Higher Education of the country, Professor Nkandu Luo and then Secretary to the Cabinet and now NEPIO Director Roland Msiska. The report was handed over under the contract for assessment and development of nuclear infrastructure in the country.
Nkandu Luo noted: nuclear power is the key factor in improvement of the wellbeing of the country while the pivotal role in the development of nuclear power sector is played by three elements: development of nuclear infrastructure, highly qualified human resources of the country and inter-university cooperation between Russia and Zambia.
The report includes results of expert missions conducted in September 2018. The expert missions were held by more than 30 experts of different enterprises of ROSATOM as meetings and interviews with representatives of 30 Zambian ministries and organizations: representatives of stakeholders, i.e. potential participants of nuclear power program development.
The implemented approaches helped Russian experts identify the level of development of nuclear infrastructure in Zambia as well as give corresponding recommendations for creation of sufficient and effective nuclear infrastructure to build and safely operate the Nuclear Science and Technology Center (NSTC).
Zambia is reported to have sizeable uranium deposits though official statistics remain scarce. The country has however attracted big players in the global high tech and high stakes nuclear space. The Zambian Government opted to sign and partner with Russia’s Rosatom to develop its nuclear ambitions.ROSATOM holds first place in terms of the number of simultaneously implemented nuclear reactor construction projects (6 in Russia and 36 outside Russia).
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The Nuclear Energy Programme Implementing Organisation –

Tech

Airtel Networks Zambia Plc has donated text books worth K10,000 to St Edmund’s Secondary School situated in Katuba area 50 kilometers away from Zambia’s capital city Lusaka in an effort to continue with its educational support.

Recognizing that education is a key driver to higher productivity which is a prerequisite for national development, Fr Jim who received the books on behalf of the school said the school was in need of a lot of help and the mathematics books donated would go a long way in helping the pupils.

“We are truly grateful for this. We do not take it for granted and I know that the current crop of students will appreciate these books,” he said.

“It is always nice to see corporate entities help out the communities in improving the quality of education of learners. We do realise government cannot do this alone hence the need for partnerships to be created,” he added

And Airtel’s Enterprise Business Director Muyunda Munyinda in handing over the books said Airtel will continue being relevant in the Education sector as promoting equity in accessing education is paramount to national development.

St Edmund’s Secondary School is situated 20 kilometers from Chieftainess Mungule’s palace. The school started operations in 2016 and has more than 100 students from around Chieftainess Mungule’s village.

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Airtel Networks Zambia Plc has donated text