Business News

Fri, 03 Mar 2017 12:16:36 +0000

Mpulungu Harbour raises $1.3m from exports

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

OVER US$1.3 million was realised from exports at the Mpulungu Harbour Corporation Limited as at December 31st 2016, company general manager Davies Kaluba has revealed.

Mr Kaluba said some of the commodities exported during the period under review were cement, sugar and clinker.

Responding to a press query, Mr Kaluba explained that the corporation exported cement and clinker to Burundi and sugar to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

He said the port expected export volumes to grow further during the period May to October 2017 owing to positive interest from Zambian businesses to pursue the existing opportunities.

“There has been positive interest from business houses in Zambia to pursue business opportunities in the Great Lakes region, especially in Burundi as it is one country that is actively re-building,” he said.

“The northern part of Zambia has potential to become a strong agricultural hub which will feed the Great Lakes region. The developments on the Mbala-Nakonde road are quite encouraging for what will clearly be a busy economic route,” he said.

Mr Kaluba revealed that the Netherlands government had also shown keen interest to partner with Zambia in developing a long-term strategy for water sector development and related projects in Mpulungu.

He also said that the corporation was currently engaging the companies with premises adjacent to the port with a view to buying off these properties, as the engineering designs pointed to an additional requirement for space for the new ports.

“We are done with the engineering designs for the new port and we are keen to access the funding from the Government.

He said the completion of the engineering designs was a good basis for further studies and a good guide to scope the project’s financial needs.

Mr Kaluba said the support from the Government was enduring and that the focus remained on project development and trade facilitation which he said was encouraging.

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Reduced load shedding cheers SMEs in Lusaka

By MAILESI BANDA

REDUCED load shedding in some parts of Lusaka has boosted small scale businesses and contributed to improved economic growth among Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

Anita Bwale a hair dresser in Kalingalinga, has expressed gratitude at the reduction in load shedding by the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO).

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, Ms Bwale said she had managed to recover from the losses she incurred during the long hours that the area was load shedded last year.

She said her business had not performed well in the previous year due to the power challenges.

She explained that while she was able to make a minimum of K5,000 monthly before the electricity supply problems, she could not make even half of the money.

“Before the load shedding challenges I used to make not less than K5,000 a month but when it started I would sometimes make only K2,000 monthly,” she said.

She complained that she failed to handle the running costs of the business such that at some point she felt like closing her hair salon.

She said the improvement in electricity supply in her area had helped her business and that she was almost going back to her previous profit levels.

She appealed to ZESCO to continue with the efforts it was making to stabilise the supply of electricity.

She said entrepreneurs in the country could be productive and contribute to household incomes if the Government created an enabling environment that would ensure that small businesses like hair salons thrived through the provision of reliable electricity supply.

“The Government has been advising us to venture into business because there are no jobs and this could only be done with the help of companies like ZESCO that supply electricity to most SMEs which run businesses that are dependent on electricity, Ms Bwale said.

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Capping interest rates not solution – Nkhoma

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

THE Central Bank should not consider re-introduction of capping interest rates but allow the financial system to regulate itself, says economist Noel Nkhoma.

Mr Nkhoma, the BetterNow Finance Limited chief executive officer, said in an interview that the Bank of Zambia should continue allowing the financial market to regulate itself.

He was responding to suggestions raised by some members of the public who have been calling on BoZ to revisit the re-introduction of capping interest rates like what other countries had done in a bid to lower interest rates.

“The market should be allowed to correct itself, it will not happen overnight because the damage was not done, the interest rates are dictated by the central bank and that is not how a free market operates.

“That action alone created the problem we have now where the cost of funds has gone up, but the solution is not BoZ dictating the rates, the solution lies in the financial system,” he said.

Mr Nkhoma said Zambia’s high risk profile in the financial market had also contributed to the increase in interest rates.

“If I know that giving you money is a high risk, I will increase the rate, a sign that the risk profile in Zambia is still very high.

“So we have to move towards an environment where the central bank will play its role by freeing up liquidity and continuing the message that we are not as high risk as people would want to portray us,” he said.

He observed that Government continued to be the largest borrower through its securities which in the process directly and indirectly triggered the high interest rates.

“If the Government will go into the bond market and Treasury bills then every player in the market knows that this is a risk free, so they would rather lend it than lending the private sector no matter the premium they may offer.

“This is basically a dilemma the country is in, the risk profiling in the country is too high, you will find that interest rates is a reflection of the rest,” Mr Nkhoma said.