Business news

Tue, 14 Mar 2017 10:42:30 +0000

Barclays pledges to slash interest rates By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

BARCLAYS Bank Zambia has put in place measures to reduce interest rates following the favourable market conditions which are moving in that direction, says the bank’s managing director Saviour Chibiya.

Mr Chibiya explained that the reduction of the statutory reserve ratios by the Central Bank, loosening of the monetary policy rate and decrease of inflation rate indicated that the financial market was heading in the right direction.

He said in an interview that the reduction in the monetary policy rate would allow liquidity in the financial system which would enable commercial banks lend at reasonable levels.

Mr Chibiya said all his bank’s interest rates would be reduced following the current trend in the financial market.

“As a bank we believe the interest rates were too high for customers and therefore we would want to see them come down and we are very happy to see the Central Bank loosening the monetary policy and reducing the statutory level.

“So, as we see the rates reducing on deposits we expect that we will also be reducing rates; you will see us reducing rates, there is already measures put in place to notify different customers of the rates reduction because the market is moving in that direction,” he said.

Mr Chibiya however said the interest rate percentage would depend on the market conditions as they were market-driven as well as customers’ risk profile and products.

He explained that the bank did not have one rate for all its customers, adding that the lending rates varied depending on the customer segment and the risk profile of the customer.

“When customers are giving us deposits, they will also be looking at the Treasury bill rate and what they can get, so that is what goes into our cost of funding which then decides our lending rates.

“The reduction in the rates will depend on the customer segment and customer product; the rates will be influenced by the cost of funding as well as the risk that we are taking of the premium,” he said.

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State acts to benefit from mineral value chain

BY MAILESI BANDA

THERE is need for an introduction of a sealing mechanism at the exploration stage and a strict check at the point of export for proper distribution of the mineral wealth, acting permanent secretary in the Ministry of Mines, Gideon Ndalama, has said.

He said the mineral value chain mechanism was among the measures that the Government was putting in place to ensure the country benefited from its minerals.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Ndalama said Government was working towards being present at all levels of the minerals value chain.

“We have a lot of minerals that have associated risks like the gemstones and we have put up measures in place to ensure the country gains and one such measure is the mineral value chain,’’ he said.

He said there was need for Government to be involved from exploration to exportation of minerals. He said once Government received the expected returns and with transparency in production, Zambians would begin to benefit more from the country’s minerals.

He said for base line metals like copper Government needed to be aware of the production costs to maximize the potential of the minerals.

“Unless we look at the costs from exploration of minerals to the actual mining only then are we able to ascertain how much money we deserve as a nation  because we will understand how much the mining companies are spending,’’ he said.

He said Government is working towards broadening the tax base in mining, hence the charge being paid on property transfer tax from exploration stage to the actual mining.

He said a mining right was currently considered as property by law and Government is getting an income.

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New African plan to fight climate disasters

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

THE African Risk Capacity (ARC) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) have partnered to strengthen African countries struggling with climate disasters, following the Letter of Intent (LoI) signed between the two institutions in May 2016 during the AfDB’s annual meetings in Lusaka.

ARC is a specialised agency of the African Union (AU) consisting of 32 African nations to help AU member states improve their capacities to better plan, prepare and respond to weather-related disasters.

This memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed early this month would formalise a technical collaboration to enhance risk management infrastructure and policy across Africa.

It formalises a technical partnership to collaborate on the enhancement of the risk management infrastructure and policy regime across Africa.

The partnership would also support African countries in building resilience against climate shocks and in taking ownership of their disaster responses.

In concrete terms, the AfDB and ARC agency would work together to develop their member states’ capacity in understanding the value of risk transfer tools.

The partnership is intended to result in ARC member countries integrating risk management into their policy and development objectives.

It would have a particular focus on recurrent disasters such as drought, floods and tropical cyclones as well as on improved resilience and speedier recovery after disasters.

Speaking during the signing ceremony, AfDB senior vice-president, Frannie Léautier, said the two institutions would partner to support member states in key areas, which would lay the foundation for a robust approach at the national level around disaster risk financing.

And United Nations assistant secretary-general and the director-general of ARC Mohamed Béavogui said the partnership would complement ARC as it would jointly train and prepare countries to better manage weather-related risk and mainstream insurance into their disaster management plans.

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‘Go back to the land to become billionaire’

 BY MAILESI BANDA

MONEY in Zambia is in agriculture and once the water resources are utilized for irrigation and more women are involved it will be a big economic booster, African Women’s Entrepreneurship Programme (AWEP) pan-African president, Sylvia Banda, has said.

Mrs. Banda said Zambia had the capacity to feed itself and Africa had the potential to feed itself and the whole world once agriculture was utilized.

She said this agenda could only be attained if the African woman was given a chance to contribute to the agriculture sector.

Mrs Banda said agriculture should not be seen as a dirty job, adding that money was in agriculture.

“Zambia has a lot of water resources which could support irrigation; it is important that people stopped looking at farming as a dirty job but rather as a money spinner,’’ she said.

She noted that it was unfortunate that Zambians still looked for white collar jobs when the money was in agriculture.

She stated that to be a billionaire in Zambia one just had to go back to the land by engaging in agriculture.

She advised that those involved in agriculture should consider the use of technology to increase their yield and make more money.

“Smart farming is important in modern times, it is tedious to use the hoe; in fact the hoe should be taken to the museum as we embrace technology and practice modern agriculture,’’ she said.

She challenged Zambian graduates to invent easier ways of farming and ease other tedious farm jobs to make the sector attractive.

The only way the Zambian economy could attain growth was by diversification, adding that engaging in agriculture was one way of increasing growth, she said.

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$40m South nickel  mine ready to roll again 

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

FULL operations at the Munali nickel mine near Mazabuka, with a total investment of US$40 million, are expected to commence in June this year.

Munali nickel mine is expected to produce 5, 000 tonnes of metal per annum once production commences.

Operations at the mine stopped in November 2011 due to low nickel prices and poor operational performance by previous owners.

The mine is now owned by Consolidated Nickel Mines (CNM) of the United Kingdom after acquiring rights to all of Munali mine resources and infrastructure which has since been worked on and is now ‘‘ready to run’’.

Munali nickle mine is now a member of the Zambia Chamber of Mines (ZCM).

ZCM chief executive officer Talent Ng’andwe said in an interview that management was planning to re-start the mine after a period of high-level care and maintenance.

“Management has already made a plan to cut on costs of producing nickle at the mine. They will be able to survive based on the price of the metal so the mine is coming on stream I think by June or July.

“They made a presentation at the recent Indaba on the Copperbelt on how they plan to restructure the operations of the mine,” he said.

Mr Ng’andwe said CNM had potential to increase production while taking advantage of rising nickel prices on the market

He said all infrastructure including power and ventilation had been put in place, adding that the mine was fully dewatered with the ore ready to be extracted.

Mr Ng’andwe said the company was also looking at value addition plans for long-term nickel metal production

“Munali nickel mine is our member which is now mobilising resources, they have announced that the mine has been under care and maintenance,” he said.

He added that the project’s economics improved through a change in mining method and that the metallurgical process and optimised labour structure had been revised.