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The Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants – ZICA – has revealed that Zambia will now be in a stronger position to support its economic growth as it is now credit worthy and a more attractive destination for Foreign Direct Investment – FDI – after the Official Creditors reached a decision to restructure Zambia’s liabilities with bilateral partners at the just ended meetings in Paris.

ZICA notes that the importance of the successful agreement that would enable the country to reduce its debt burden while still meeting its financial obligations cannot be over emphasised as the debt-restructuring program will significantly decrease Zambia’s debt-to-GDP ratio.

Speaking in a statement availed to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, ZICA President Cecilia Zimba said the Institute is confident that this restructuring will release and relieve funds that are urgently needed for national development.

Zimba stated that the debt restructuring the country has attained means that the country will pay debt over a longer maturity period and at more affordable interest rates. This deal is for public sector debt amounting to $6.3 billion.

“We are now looking forward to the 360 degrees turnaround of prospects for our Country as Debt repayment has been a very big burden with respect to our economic growth. It is common knowledge that our debt-to-GDP ratio has reached unacceptable levels and at default, support from lenders stops coming because a country becomes high risk.”

“We are also confident that a similar deal will be struck with private sector creditors. The debt- restructuring program that involved negotiations with its creditors to restructure its debt obligations and reduce its debt burden could not have been managed better, and what we are celebrating today, is testimony of the work that went into this.”

She added that from this milestone, more resources are anticipated to be channelled towards critical sectors such as healthcare, education, infrastructure and general strides to improve the living standards of the citizens.

Zimba also noted the need for the nation to work together and put all the efforts towards ensuring that all resources made possible by the debt restructuring process are prudently used, made available in a timely manner, to unlock the country’s immense prospects in all sectors of the economy, for sustainable, holistic and inclusive national development.

She added that the Accountancy profession will support all interventions by Government aimed at ensuring that all resources are accounted for.

“Transparency and accountability will continue to be the two words at the centre of our operations as a profession in order to protect public interest and promote prudent public financial management.” She added.

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The Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants -

Companies

​Leading FinTech Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, Bankingly has announced the hosting of a Business Breakfast meeting in Lusaka, Zambia. The event is themed “Experience the future: The game-changing Chatbot and Digital Onboarding Solutions” and is scheduled to hold on Friday 23 June 2023 in Lusaka, Zambia.​

​The Business Breakfast meeting is a unique initiative by Bankingly where it host leaders and decision-makers in the Financial Institutions (FIs) to a session with pundits in digital transformation in a bid to finding solutions to their peculiar business needs especially in the area of digital banking resources.​

​Commenting on the event, Bankingly’s Business Development Manager for Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, Mr. Milton Milimo says “We are excited to bring the Business Breakfast to Lusaka, Zambia as this once again reinforces Bankingly’s devotion to the financial industry in emerging markets by providing solutions to stimulate financial services growth. Several editions of the business breakfast meeting have been held in other African countries – Nigeria, Morocco, Ghana, Kenya and Congo, which were huge successes as we had lots of potential clients attended the meetings.”​ According to the information made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT.

​This move, he pointed out was driven essentially for the Zambian financial industry to seize the opportunity to discover and explore solutions that will increase their business growth, create a competitive edge, and ease customers acquisition using reliable digital banking products from Bankingly. This he further said is touted to help financial service entities in Zambia reduce their operational costs, increase productivity, boost operational efficiency and optimize their customers’ experience.​

​The Business Breakfast is one of the unique programs of Bankingly, dedicated to local and regional financial institutions – Microfinance Banks, Credit Unions, Cooperatives, and Banks in emerging markets. With a focus on innovation and customer-centricity, Bankingly delivers world-class solutions to financial institutions based on pay-per-real usage, high-level security & compliance, and an unbeatable integration time of eight (8) weeks.​

​Bankingly is a leading SaaS provider with cutting-edge digital banking solutions committed to revolutionizing the financial industry. Ahead of most FinTech, Bankingly identifies with financial institutions as a prime contributor to promoting financial inclusion in emerging markets – Africa, Latin America & Asia. For more details on Bankingly, please visit – www.bankingly.com and to request a demo click here https://www.bankingly.com/contact/?utm_campaign=tactic-zm&utm_medium=paid-media&utm_source=press&utm_term=demo

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​Leading FinTech Software as a Service (SaaS)

Agribusiness

In its effort to increase the participation of smallholder farmers in market-integrated and nutrition-sensitive value chains in Zambia, the European Union funded program has under the 4th round awarded six Zambian agri-businesses a total of EUR 2.4 million about  (K45.6 million) in grants through the ENTERPRISE Zambia Challenge Fund – EZCF.

The companies have also pledged to invest EUR 2.9 million about (K55.1 million) into their projects in an effort to create market access for over 7,300 Zambian smallholder-farming households and create full time and part-time jobs, mainly for women and youths in rural areas.

The ENTERPRISE Zambia project is jointly implemented by Self Help Africa, an Irish NGO, and by Imani Development Limited from the United Kingdom and seeks to integrate 150,000 smallholder farmers and producers into the development of sustainable value chains and help them to be part of the transition towards greener and more sustainable agri-food systems. The project aims to create over 8,000 new jobs, focusing particularly on women and youth, during the coming five years.

Speaking during the award ceremony attended by the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, EU Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen said,” The Enterprise Zambia project responds to the vision stemming from Zambian comprehensive agriculture transformation support program which is part of the EU-Zambia green partnerships for sustainable recovery, growth and decent jobs.”

Urpilainen said Zambia will be best placed to access the EU market, in compliance with the New EU Regulation on Deforestation free supply chains.

Speaking at the same event, Self Help Africa Country Director, Elia Manda added “This is an exciting opportunity for Zambian agri-businesses to be innovative and contribute to smallholder farmer’s commercialisation, so they can grow more and sell more, with positive environmental and social impact.”

Meanwhile, the Zambian Government through the Agriculture Minister Mtolo Phiri thanked the EU delegation for the continued support to Zambia and urged the recipients to utilize the resources for the intended purpose.

Phiri said the support was truly important for the country as the economy strives to address challenges of low production which with this support he believed it was going to help the country increase productions.  

The agri-businesses receiving financial support from the European Union funded programme under the fourth round are: Twala Farming, Ryli Beef and Grains, Plant Health Agri, Nokamu Enterprises, Growmore Technologies and Nash Import & Export.

The project portfolio under the fourth call will focus on crop waste compost production, crop protection and nutritional products, agri-input sales, mechanization, seed production, production of ginger and access to quality livestock inputs and advice on animal husbandry.

The agri-businesses will invest in green technologies demonstrating commercial potential. They will work with smallholders to promote organic production, biocontrol products, biodigesters, sustainable management of soils including incorporation of trees into farming systems and the use of carbon credits to provide additional sources of income to the local rural communities.

The European Union through ENTERPRISE Zambia has already committed EUR 16.8 million to 28 Zambian agri-businesses. The grant recipients focus on 11 value chains in over 70 districts for the diversification of agriculture in Zambia.

Currently, 117,412 smallholder farmers have been integrated into commercial value chains with access to inputs, ready and reliable markets for crops, livestock and fish, competitive prices, training and extension services and a total of 2,103 full-time jobs have so far been created.

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In its effort to increase the participation

Markets

Reports have emerged of some major Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) who have opted to reduce on petrol supply due to lean profit margins occasioned by high landing costs relative to the Energy Regulation Board – ERB set retail prices.

Some OMCs employees have disclosed that the current erratic petrol supply of petrol in the country is due to a number of OMCs who have withdrawn or holding supply of petrol as they are discouraged by the thin margins that are compromising profitability.

When compared to diesel, most fueling stations are selling normally but Petrol has become unattractive for them. Diesel prices seem ok now as the commodity is being transported by the Pipeline since the operationalization of the TAZAMA pipeline.

A random check by the Zambian Business Times –ZBT in Lusaka between 20th and 21st June 2023, in some major fuelling stations, established that they had no petrol prompting consumers to complain over the matter.

Reacting to indications that an artificial fuel shortage has emerged, the OMCs Association President Dr. Kafula Mubanga said this is caused by lean margins due to high cost of transport in terms of road which has not changed for petrol and is unattractive for any investor to bring in petrol in the country hence the need for Government to work around incentives to balance the equation.

He noted that the incentives on diesel is such that the price of transporting the product via a pipeline has been reduced and this is why the country has many investors wanting to supply diesel because of the reduced transportation cost.

“This is arriving from the fact that you have a pipeline with more diesel being transported into the country and obviously the pipeline is not as expensive as the road transport. But we feel that this can be addressed in terms of a strategic plan by the Ministry of energy and it calls for a review on how they can create an incentive.”

The price of petrol was recently reduced by ERB  to K24.45 from K27.64 a situation OMCs are saying is threatening their profit margins causing some companies withdraw from supplying to solicit government to provide incentives on petrol. 

Dr. Mubanga explained that, on the incentives for petrol nothing has been done and government should seat back and review on the coast line and see what is workable in as far as bringing in petrol and still make it more competitive without necessarily discourage the OMCs from bringing the product in the country.

“What would have been interesting is for Government to look at how best they can work around petrol because obviously costs still remain high and the margins looks a little bit unattractive to OMCs thereby discouraging most of the OMCs from supplying the commodity.”

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Reports have emerged of some major Oil

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An economist and financial expert has warned that the current appreciation of Kwacha against the United States Dollar – USD is temporal, unsustainable and may not have a long term positive impact on the ground given the country’s current economic state and weak fundamentals.

The Zambian Kwacha has as of today – Tuesday 20th June 2023 posted serious gains in value against the USD trading from about K19.23 the previous day to about K16.83. The dollar is now buying at K16.8342 and selling at K17.1658 as of Tuesday 20th June 2023 from highs of buying at K19.2306 and selling at K19.6094 respectively as of Monday 19th June 2023.

Reacting to the steep movement, a financial and economic expert has argued that, “I don’t see the Zambian economy being able to sustain it for a long time because you must also take into consideration the fact that right now, Zambia is not paying back (servicing) it’s foreign exchange denominated debt because it is on a debt suspension initiative till the restructuring is concluded and approved.”

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times -ZBT, Economist, Researcher and Consultant Salwindi Notulu said although the appreciation of the Zambian Kwacha against the US dollar will have an immediate impact on spot transactions like those settling payments for imported goods and services as this will reduce the Kwacha needed to be converted, the appreciation will have little to no impact on the ground in the medium term.

Notulu explained that this is because of the current balance of reserves that the country has is low, hence the level of sustainability of these gains can simply not be guaranteed.

“Basically what am saying is that if there is any fluctuations in the Supply or demand side on the market, whether they are due to internal or external happenings, those will have an impact in terms of the exchange rates, but in terms of stability in the medium to long term, I would not really be positive that we will be able to sustain it given our current economic situation. So this may just be a one off gain caused by other things happening outside or within the country.”

“From what is obtaining on the ground, I would assume it to be a temporal wind fall and not something that we can say it will continue going down or remain stable. You also need to take into consideration that prices are sticky going downwards but when its going upwards, they are very flexible.”

He added that this may be a short term windfall, so in terms of people on the ground, you can’t really say there will be any effect that will be felt unless it’s sustained over a much longer period of time.

“So this may just be a one off thing and we don’t even know for how long it will last, so only the big companies and large traders who can benefit and take advantage of this, but for ordinary people on the ground, the gains should be sustained over a longer period of time.

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An economist and financial expert has warned

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Zambia is self s

The Zambia National Farmers Union – ZNFU has clarified that Zambia is self sufficient as far as wheat production is concerned and that there is no need to resort to imports. 

This revelation is however contrary to assertions in the Ministerial Statement that depicted that the country has a net production deficit of about 110,000 tons for the 2022/2023 Agro season.

Speaking in a separate exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, ZNFU Wheat chairperson Blair McLeod stated that it’s disturbing to hear that there is a deficit as the country has more water and electricity supply has improved coupled with increased hectarage under cultivation last year.

McLoed stated that last year, Wheat farmers who are members of ZNFU produced about 370,000 tons plus another 50,000 from wheat farmers who are not members of ZNFU. This adds up to a total production for the country of 420,000 tons of wheat.

ZNFU wheat chairman stated that every year, the Millers Association of Zambia – MAZ states their demand as far as the need to import is, but precious year’s show that they have imported less and less as production has been increasing, so the deficit that need to be covered by imports is definitely less and should not be anywhere above 100,000 tons.

When asked about the estimated consumption in Zambia for both domestic and industrial use, McLoed stated that though its difficult to come up an exact number, ZNFU estimates that consumption is somewhere between 300k to 350k tons, making the country a surplus wheat producer.

ZNFU further indicated that if export volumes for flour were to be accurately measured, then the country would be able to have more accurate figures on local wheat consumption.

A check by ZBT on the ZRA website revealed that no flour exports details are available and efforts are underway to get official numbers from the revenue agency. The lack of details results in Zambia being depicted as an importer of wheat, and data for the export of flour, so this distortion needs attention by policy makers.

A further check with market players by ZBT reveals that locally produced wheat is currently being rated as having the best quality, but some inferior wheat commodities are being imported with some mixed with the good quality locally produced wheat, a practice which needs to be investigated and loopholes closed to support market efficiency.

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Zambia is self s The Zambia National Farmers

Mining

Mwembeshi Resources Limited has disclosed that it has made tremendous progress towards resuming full scale copper production and has so far invested over USD $50 million in the development of the Kangaluwi mine in the lower Zambezi National park area.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, Mwembeshi Resources spokesperson Oliver Shalala explained that the over $50 million has been invested towards the construction of the road to the mining site, connection of the mine to the power line, mineral explorations and the equipment that have so far been purchased for the mine.

Government, through the Zambia Environmental Management Agency – ZEMA, ordered the suspension of all mining operations in the Lower Zambezi National Park which has the capacity to contribute to Government’s 3 million tons target by 2031. ZEMA cited non-compliance with the conditions as the reason behind the temporal suspension, this was outlined in a letter issued to Mwembeshi Resources Limited.

Mwembeshi resources Spokesperson however said the company has since submitted a site environmental restoration plan outlining the steps required to restore the degraded areas within the national park, including the borrow pits, to their original condition as mandated by the Environmental Management Act before the compliance order is lifted.

“We were asked to submit by the 6th June 2023 and we submitted by deadline and the following day ZEMA wrote back to us acknowledging receipt and we are just waiting for their review and their decision.” He said.

When asked how has the suspension affected the development of the mine, Shalala said, ‘we are okay with the Government decision, actually it is good because when this phase passes, no one is expected to say there is an issue of compliance because the experts themselves “ZEMA” would have looked at it and given their review points and approvals

Shalala added that the suspension is part of the process because government has to monitor, adding that this was anticipated and if they have questions at some point they will slow us down or stop us, but its part of the process, there is nothing outside the law which government has done.

“The cease order is part of the process, when we had a [similar] injunction from the courts in 2015, we ceased operations for 6 years until 2021, so that is not a problem to us its part of the process.” Shalala assured.

He said the main objective of the company is to mine sustainably and we shall proceed to mine as soon as the order is lifted and we don’t anticipate failure on our part in terms of meeting the obligations.

He said the major problem are the investors operating in the lower Zambezi who do not want to see any major development coming as they feel threatened by the mine.

“These people who run lodges in the area have had no interest to develop roads, even the simple grading of jet air strip which they use all the time to bring in tourists has been a challenge. Meanwhile Shalala was optimistic that the mining activities will go ahead once the order by ZEMA is lifted.”

Mwembeshi Resources, a subsidiary of Zambezi Resources, which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, plans to invest a $494 million in the development of the Kangaluwi copper mine in the Lower Zambezi national park, a move which has been for so long been questioned by environmentalists and Safari lodge owners in the area.

Shalala accused those opposing the development of the Copper mine to have been paid or sponsored by Lodge owners and other stakeholders who feel threatened by the coming in of the mine and eventual development to the area.

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Mwembeshi Resources Limited has disclosed that it

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Having enjoyed for years when men could get away with everything and settle for a second marriage whilst still married to the first wife, women are now turning the tables are they are now leaving their husbands for a second marriage.

Women, are now seeing a second marriage as a second chance for happiness as this could be seen from the recent two reported incidences at Lusaka Civic Centre, where two married women attempted to get married whilst still married on two different occasions.

Families are Nations says there is serious need for this development to be given serious attention from the law enforcement agencies because if left unattended to, families and the country at large will totally be in disarray as the children and the families will be divided. This has also the capacity to increase the number of street kids.

Organization executive director Judith Mwila told the Zambian Business Times – ZBT – that the laws must be applied so that people can understand that they are committing a crime by engaging themselves in such acts and there should be strict punishments for the offenders.

Mwila said the Families are Nations have also observed with a lot of interest on this development and is questioning what is really going on in these homes where the women are coming out and wanting to get married to the second man while their husbands are there in the homes.

“Our concerns are firstly on matters of communication because it is not a normal thing and also retrogressive to the family. You can imagine people that have been married for over five years with children only for children to hear that the mother is getting married to a second man. This development is really strange and as the organisation we are trying to dig deeper and find out from the couples.”

She said from the outlook there could be something that is happening in marriages which is not conducive for the partners that want to leave and go and get married somewhere else.

“The women are possibly looking for a better relationships and they feel if they find another man they would probably get that so again it could be a misjudgement because what constitutes a better relationship, once you commit yourself to a certain man it means the man has qualified to you to give you a better relationship that’s why you chose him to marry you.”

“Families should be blamed for going this far because when there are disputes in the families there are processes to be followed and if they fail there is a church, councillors or court rather than ending up embarrassing themselves and the rest of the family members that way.”

“If a marriage has Brocken down the right thing to do is to end it first before another marriage can be contracted. So on our part we are equally shocked just like the rest of society is wondering what is going on and we would like to get into the gist of this thing to hear what is happening.”

“My advice to Married couples is that they should learn to resolve and reconcile and if they fail they can go as far as the court. We are further encouraging families to resolve things as they start because we don’t want more children on the streets because of marriages that are breaking.” She added.   

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Having enjoyed for years when men could

Agribusiness

When the Kwacha is perpetually under pressure and depreciating in value, many wonder why this is so. Apart from failure to negotiate with multinationals copper mining companies that control over 70% of Zambia’s export dollars to remit back into the country a significant portion of the proceeds, the Agro sector also continues to bleed.

According to the latest crop focus survey report announced by Agro Minister Mtolo Phiri, Zambia has again failed to locally grow enough to meet the country’s needs and recorded a wheat production deficit for the 2022/2023 Agro season of about 110,000 tons. 

Wheat is now a strategic crop in Zambia especially in large cities and towns where bread and other wheat based confectionary products are heavily consumed as part of the daily breakfast meal and cereal.

Mtolo Phiri in his ministerial statement made available to the Zambian Business Times – ZBT, revealed that the country has recorded a net deficit of 108,561 (about 110,000) metric tonnes of wheat for the 2022/2023 agricultural marketing season.

At average international spot prices of $645 per ton in June 2023, Zambia will have to import wheat worth about $70 million, funds that could have been saved with adequate planning and necessary policy interventions.

A check by ZBT with local wheat farmers reveal that the locally grown wheat is now even the most preferred commodity by millers and the consumer market. The farmers say that local wheat seed varieties are doing well, but questioned the numbers, stating that the country is no

Zambia is endowed with extensive water resources, large rivers and streams, fertile soils that could be utilized to cut the existing deficit and even venture into the export market given the right policy and financing support. 

Additionally, apart from creating local jobs and support business activities, saving of foreign exchange and helping to sustain the Kwacha stability, locally grown wheat sells about $100 less per ton on just transport and logistics savings compared to imported wheat.

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When the Kwacha is perpetually under pressure

Uncategorized

Airtel Networks Zambia Plc has for the 4th year running become the Platinum partner for the Zambia Information Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) 2023 Innovation program Cohort.

The official announcement was made today at the Zambia Information Communication Technology Authority (ZICTA) offices when Airtel Zambia Chief Commercial Officer, Mr. Hussam Baday handed over a cheque worth K250, 000 to ZICTA Director General, Mr. Choolwe Nalubamba.

In a statement made available to the Zambian – ZBT – Baday said he was impressed with the various innovations that had emanated from the Program which ZICTA started in 2016 with the primary goal to provide business and technical developmental support services to ICT related innovators, start-ups and entrepreneurs that have innovative, viable and scalable ICT related ideas or business ventures that attempt to solve current challenges relating to any sector of the economy.

“We are extremely proud to be associated once again with the ICT innovation program whose objectives tie with our new tagline – A reason to Imagine. We are all about empowerment and providing a platform for all our customers to connect everywhere and we now see more people getting involved in e Commerce and Gaming for the younger generations showing us that technology has also given customers a way to express themselves,” Baday said.

And on receiving the cheque, ZICTA Director General, Mr. Choolwe Nalubamba said part of the mandate and strategy of the Authority is to grow innovation and digital entrepreneurship in Zambia.

Adding: “We have been doing this program since 2016 starting off with a small number of 20 and now we are at 60. In order for us to take this program to the next level we require strategic partnerships, and this is the reason we are all here today because Airtel have decided to help us achieve our goals with the innovation program by giving us K250, 000 effectively making them the platinum sponsor for the 2023 cohort,” Nalubamba said.

“What Airtel is giving us today is a significant contribution and we hope to see more local innovations so as we can help commercialise them because many of these innovators have brilliant ideas that can solve many of our problems as a country,” the ZICTA DG said.

Aside the cash injection, Airtel Zambia will through members of staff provide mentorship sessions with the 60 innovators and take them through basic business fundamentals.

The innovation program which will run through until November 2023 has several activities lined up including business and technical development workshops as well as group coaching and pitching sessions for the finalists.

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Airtel Networks Zambia Plc has for the