Dear Editor,
NAPSA acquiring of the majority shareholding in Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank (ZICB) is a game of chance that can have many interpretations either positively or negatively especially when it comes to exploring a lot of key indicators and operational fundamentals of the local economy. I think the national pensioner should look at businesses that have successful storylines to throw their investment cards as opposed to taking ownership and control management of certain assets.
NAPSA is fully expected to ride on some well tested successful investments, and well placed businesses to grow the funds of pensioners as opposed to trigger their investment fibre into expenditures especially in the sectorial market faced with transformational challenges, as technological advancements faces the real term market value and this trend of new dimensional market systems is becoming shrunken with emerging technologies on the scene and the banking has been captured by telecom sector through mobile money platforms.
From the looks of things today, banks are now operating at a very high cost and risk especially within this local market. It is rewarding to state that Zambia as a nation is operating on a severe cocktail of poor economic fundamentals, it is evidently seen that the domestic market is operating below par, with the poor conditions of industrial and consumption benchmarks observed in the nation.
From a critical eye, we don’t expect banking to do well, given that we have an ever rising level of nonperforming portfolios on loans within the sector and instability that has continuously kept on recording negatives on the local currency, and assets depreciation levels are also quite high with the current levels of depressed economic activities.
I would personally suggest and highly expect that NAPSA jumps on some attractive investment opportunities that are strategic in nature at country level such as participation in Gold value chain, as the commodity has already an assured market and this product has a key demand globally even though it faces nominal depressions in value terms.
KELVIN CHISANGA.
