Business News

Tue, 21 Mar 2017 12:50:32 +0000

Fungulwe told to stay clear of Pilala market

By BENNIE MUNDANDO

LUFWANYAMA Member of Parliament Leonard Fungulwe must stay clear of the Kagem dump site and Pilala market and stop inciting people to rise against authorities or we will have him arrested, the Emerald Association of Zambia (ESMAZ) has warned.

But Mr. Fungulwe said there was nothing wrong he had done except to deliver the message from Minister of Mines Christopher Yaluma that the people trading from the market will not be removed.

He said there was need for Kagem and Government to dialogue over the possibility of the company allowing Zambians to form cooperatives and utilise its mineral deposits at its dump site.

ESMAZ president Victor Kalesha yesterday alleged that Mr. Fungulwe was promoting illegality at the market by going against the company’s decision to relocate marketeers to a better place where they could trade safely as the mining area they were operating from posed a health hazard to their lives.

Mr. Kalesha said no one will prevent Kagem from relocating the people to another premises, adding that those who will resist, together with those who were inciting them, will be arrested because the area belonged to the company.

“We are very disappointed with Mr. Fungulwe. He is inciting people at Pilala market to rise against ESMAZ. We want to urge the people at Pilala market to understand that we are not moving them out because of any other reason other than the fact that this is a restricted mining area where blasting happens at any time and as such, we cannot allow people to settle at a mining site.

But Mr. Fungulwe denied ever inciting marketeers to rise against Kagem saying he only an information-bearer from what Mr. Yaluma said to him over government’s position on the matter.

“I met the minister before that meeting with marketeers and after explaining the situation to him, he told me to go and assure the people that according to government’s policy they will not be removed from the place they are currently trading from.

“He also assured me that government and the mine will have to engage and agree on the best way of helping the locals benefit from the emerald deposits from its dumpsite by striking a deal to allow the locals to form cooperatives so that they could be allowed to be getting minerals from the dumpsite,” Mr. Fungulwe said.

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Let locals open Mukula tree processing plants, Govt urged

By MAILESI BANDA

GOVERNMENT should engage the private sector in the establishment of a processing plant for the mukula tree for it to effectively contribute to economic growth and create employment, a member of a traditional royal establishment has suggested.

Mushota Royal Establishment prince, Nason Mushota, who is from the Luapula Province which is endowed with mukula trees, said Government should allow the private sector buy machinery and process the tree for economic benefit of the nation.

Speaking in an interview with the Daily Nation, Mr Mushota said the country was losing out on the revenues that would contribute to national development as the trees were illegally being exported out of the country because of the Government’s lack of a plan on how to benefit from the resource.

He lamented that it was sad that 90 percent of the country’s economy was dependent on foreign investments when there was potential for empowerment of local investors for the economy to be self-sustainable.

“Why can’t the Government allow the Zambian private sector to order machinery and start processing the mukula tree for export; the company could open up factories in the Eastern, Northern and Luapula provinces were the tree is found,’’ he said.

He said the factories would then employ youths that would add value to the mukula tree before it was exported.

“The establishment of a mukula tree processing plant would also widen the tax base for the Zambia Revenue Authority,” he said

He said the Government’s decision to make the mukula tree business illegal was costing the nation as few individuals were benefiting from the resource at the expense of many.

“ZRA needs to make money to develop the country’s districts and provinces that have been established and this could only be done by broadening the current tax base using the opportunity the mukula tree has presented itself,’’ he said.

He said there were a lot of students that graduated yearly and that Government could not manage to provide jobs for them, adding that if supported local investors were potential employers.

“The economic independence of the country lies in the hands of the Zambian people,” he said.

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Private sector urged to close infrastructure financing gap

BY MAILESI BANDA

THE private sector should contribute to infrastructure development to enhance trade, director at State House, Henry Sakala, has said.

Mr Sakala revealed that currently Zambia had an infrastructure finance gap that needed the private sector’s contribution.

He said the Government was committed to ensuring that the private sector participated in the development of infrastructure in the country, adding that there was undisputed need for the Government to tap into the finances of the private sector to help attain economic growth.

“Most of the infrastructure is built by Government but the challenge is that currently we have an infrastructure finance gap in the country and there is need for the gap to be filled up by the private sector contribution,’’ he said.

Mr Sakala said Government needed to tap into the private sector finance management and technology to ensure the provision of social amenities and the growth of the economy.

He appealed to the private sector to take advantage of the public private partnerships available in the country and contribute to infrastructure development and economic growth. He observed that for a business to make money it needed to operate in a conducive environment and this could only be attained by the availability of infrastructure such as roads.

He said the Zambian economy had drastically changed, adding that while in the 1990’s the government controlled about 80 percent of the economy because they owned most companies, currently the economy was controlled by the private sector.

He said Government needed to concentrate on the policy frame work and make the country attractive for investment.

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Wheat in 87,000 MT shortfall in 2016

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

WHEAT production in Zambia declined by 87,356 metric tonnes in 2016 due to adverse weather conditions, according to the Indaba Agriculture Policy Institute (IAPRI).

IAPRI reports that based on provisional production estimates, wheat production in 2016 was around 221,644 metric tonnes, declining from 309, 000 tonnes recorded in 2015.

In its latest report on Zambia’s agriculture status, IAPRI explained that the El Nino weather that characterised the 2015 farming season led to a decline in the area where the commodity was planted.

“In addition power rationing also contributed to farmers reducing their area under wheat. Due to fear that the country would have shortages in wheat production, the Zambian Government permitted the importation of up to 10,000 metric tonnes of wheat,” the report said.

The research institution however said the amount of wheat imported to date was below 10,000 metric tonnes and based on the SAFEX/JSE futures market, wheat prices were reducing in anticipation of good harvest in the region in 2017.

According to IAPRI, Zambia as at November 11 2016 had about 142,520 metric tonnes of wheat stocks.

“With the anticipated production and stocks available, the domestic supply of wheat would amount to 364,164 metric tonnes. Based on last year’s consumption requirements of 387,193 metric tonnes, this means that Zambia might have a marginal shortfall of about 23,029 tonnes,” read the report.

IAPRI however disclosed that despite a reduction in production, wheat yields increased from 6.7 metric tonnes a hectare to 7.6 tonnes.

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Central banks monitor Barclays UK separation

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

BARCLAYS Bank Africa says its separation from Barclays Bank Plc of the United Kingdom is being supervised and regulated by all central banks across the bank’s operations, including the Bank of Zambia, to guarantee that depositors’ money is safe.

Barclays Bank Africa head of communication Songezo Zibi explained that the central banks which included the Reserve Bank of South Africa and the Bank of Zambia were closely monitoring the separation to ensure that its clients were not negatively affected.

He was speaking on the sidelines of a workshop for business reporters recently organised by Barclays Bank Zambia.

Mr Zibi said the separation was being supervised and regulated by the Reserve Bank of South Africa and that it worked together with the central banks with nine other markets in which it had operations, including the Bank of Zambia.

‘‘Their job is to make sure that every single aspect of the separation does not negatively impact either the financial systems in South Africa or all our markets or threaten the security and services to all our customers across the continent,” he said.

Mr Zibi said apart from monitoring the separation, the central banks were also ensuring that the bank had adequate capital to cover the risk capital that came with lending money to borrowers.

“The central bank plays a very important role in that they measure the levels of spare capital that the bank is keeping and if it looks like there might be a default, they might ask the bank to increase the level of capital that they have. The involvement of the central banks guarantees depositors’ safety because part of the supervision is to ensure that customers are not negatively affected at all,” he said

Mr Zibi also observed that the macro-economic environment had an impact because if the economy was not growing, many be people would not be able to service their loans successfully.

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Govt spends $30m a month on power imports

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

GOVERNMENT is currently spending more than US $30 million on power imports every month which the country cannot afforded any more, says Minister of Finance Felix Mutati.

Mr Mutati said Government was spending colossal sums of money on power importation which could be used on other developmental projects such as constructing roads and hospitals.

“We are subsiding a colossal amount in power imports and we cannot afford; the effect of continued subsidising of power is in excess of US$30 million per month.

“That money can be used for public investment, for example to finish the Chingola-Kitwe road, for us to be able to invest in all sectors of the economy,” he said.

Speaking on ZNBC’S Sunday Interview this week, Mr Mutati said Government would this year remove subsidies on electricity but emphasised that it would be done gradually.

He said Government had engaged a consultant to undertake a feasibility study to determine the rate at which the cost reflective tariffs would be adjusted.

He explained that the exercise would be completed this year in June or July.

“We are going to do tariff adjustments in two phases: we are going to have an increment before the actual cost of service study and that cost of service card will tell us what the right level of tariff would be,” Mr Mutati said.

Mr Mutati said the tariff might go up or remain the same but that would be known once the consultant finishes the work.

And Zesco managing director, Victor Mundende, recently disclosed that the power utility company would stop importing emergency power this year as it was expensive for the Treasury.

Mr Mundende said the utility company was prepared to supply power locally once the emergency power was withdrawn at the end of 2017 when all contracts finished.

He explained that Zesco had embarked on many projects with a different energy mix which would sustain the demand of power in Zambia.