Today's Business News

Thu, 30 Mar 2017 13:16:47 +0000

Zambia bids to tap into Chinese over-supply

By Sheila Sakupwanya in Zhengzhou, China

THERE is need for Zambia to tap into the Chinese industrial over-capacity, says Zambia’s Ambassador to China Winnie Chibesakunda.

Ambassador Chibesakunda said tapping into the Chinese over-capacity would result in the establishment of big viable provincial industries that would effectively contribute to the country’s economic development.

She said this ahead of the 11th China Henan Industrial and Commercial Enterprises Cross-Border Investment and Trade Fair being held from 28th to  31st March 2017 in Zhengzhou.

And Ambassador Chibesakunda said Government had submitted a number of economic projects to the Chinese government expected to be funded under the US$ 60 million Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FoCAC).

“We have also started talking to the provincial leadership on the Chinese side and they are enthusiastic to partner with us in various economic activities. Our goal is to ensure that each province in Zambia has one viable industry that would employ the local people because development has to trickle down to the local people,” she said.

She noted that the establishment of provincial industrials would bring positive economic activities that could improve the livelihoods of people in the area.

She said Zambia’s 10 provinces were endowed with untapped potential which if utilized could make them economically viable and improve the livelihood of people.

‘”Each of the 10 provinces in Zambia has great potential not only to contribute to national development but also to create employment and the well-being of the people, hence the need for Government to engage our Chinese counterparts in setting up various twin industries in all the 10 provinces of Zambia,’” she said.

Amb. Chibesakunda said Government was working hard at ensuring that each province had a Chinese corresponding partner because the Chinese companies had over-capacity which if brought to Zambia could result in establishing viable industries in all the provinces.

Government wants to introduce the provincial leadership of Chinese to explore the potential of the provinces of Zambia so that they pair with them in line with their economic potentials.

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Govt wants Intermarket Bank reopened

BY MAILESI BANDA

GOVERNMENT has advised shareholders of the Intermarket Bank to open it to allow the clients access their money.

Finance minister Felix Mutati appealed to the Bank of Zambia governor, Denny Kalyalya, to ensure that the bank was re-opened to create the confidence in the banking sector.

Speaking during the launch of the Financial Literacy Week, the minster said there was need for the banking sector to continue building confidence to attract more people.

“In order for more people to be attracted to the banking sector there is need to create the confidence that we need in the financial sector. Am therefore advising the shareholders of Intermarket Bank to quickly open the doors because we said they would do so within 30 days,’’ he said.

He advised the shareholders not to create anxiety among the people that saved with the bank.

He said people should be given an opportunity to get their money which they entrusted to the bank.

“It is important that the people that have given us money have confidence in our banks, only then can we attract people to the banking sector; hence the need to open the bank so that people can access their money,’’ he said.

He appealed to people that saved with the Intermarket Bank to avoid withdrawing all their savings.

He said the Financial Literacy Week was important, adding that the only way people could be financially literate would be if the problems the sector faced were solved.

And the Bankers Association Zambia (BAZ) chairperson Charles Mudiwa said the biggest stumbling block to financial inclusion was financial literacy.

He said it was important for the population to understand the financial world as only then would they contribute to the economic growth of the country.

He said the association was committed to ensure financial literacy was not only restricted to the week of commemorations.

“We will continue with the efforts to complement financial literacy in the population by educating people on finance even after the Financial Literacy Week commemorations,’’ he said.

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NAPSA denies corruption in K100m contract award

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

THE tender process for the construction of the Modern Records Centre for the National Pensions Scheme Authority (NAPSA) was conducted transparently with strict adherence to the provisions of the Public Procurement Act and regulations, the authority has clarified.

The authority has however urged the United Progressive People’s Party (UPP) president, Saviour Chishimba, or anyone with evidence of the alleged tender malpractice to contact relevant investigative wings.

This follows allegations by Mr Chishimba that there was malpractice during the awarding of the tender for the project.

Mr Chishimba said he was in receipt of a credible report of corruption at the NAPSA involving close to K100 million.

He alleged that a named procurement officer at NAPSA had connived with a named senior State House official and a son of a leader in Government to award a contract to a Chinese company in respect of the building of the records facility worth about K100 million.

But NAPSA head of corporate affairs, Cephas Sinyangwe, explained to the media that the authority engaged external consultants to design and supervise the construction of the said modern records centre which was then advertised.

Mr Sinyangwe said pursuant to the Public Procurement Act of 2008 and the Public Procurement Regulation SI 63 of 2011, an international tender which was supposed to run for a minimum of six weeks was extended for a further four weeks to accommodate bidders’ clarifications.

“At the time of tender closing and opening on 27th January, 2017, a total of 27 bids were received. The bids were opened in the presence of 23 bidders’ representatives.

“A tender evaluation committee consisting of senior members of staff and independent external consultants appointed by the Director General evaluated the bids from 6th to 9th February 2017 in accordance with the tender evaluation criteria,” he said.

Mr Sinyangwe said the evaluation committee then recommended the best evaluated bidder to the Management Procurement Committee (MPC) consisting of senior authority executives and independent members in accordance with the Public Procurement Act No 12 of 2008.

He explained that the MPC then reviewed the tender evaluation report and granted authority to award the contract as per recommendation of the evaluation committee.

“Arising from the foregoing, the authority wishes to date categorically that as far as it is concerned, the tender process for the construction of the Modern Records Centre for NAPSA was conducted transparently with strict adherence to the provisions of the Public Procurement Act,” he said.

Mr Sinyangwe explained that on 3rd May 217, NAPSA proceeded to issue the letter of award of contact to the best evaluated bidder.

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MoU on cards to speed up exports to Malawi

By BUUMBA CHIMBULU

A MEMORANDUM of Understanding (MoU) to enhance the facilitation of quick clearance of products exported into Malawi and reduce the cost of doing business will soon be signed between Zambia and Malawi.

The MoU will specifically be signed by the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) and the Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS).

It is part of the Malawi-Zambia Joint Permanent Commission (JPC) initiative.

This is according to a statement made available to the Daily Nation by ZABS head of marketing and public relations, Hazel Zulu.

And ZABS director, Manuel Mutale, said there was high volume of Zambian products that were being exported into Malawi through Mwami and Chanida border posts.

“At the moment, there are a lot of Zambian products such as cement, fruit juices, electrical cables and steel products that are being exported to Malawi through the Mwami and Chanida border posts.

“ZABS ensures that these products are tested and certified to the respective Zambian standards and are therefore suitable for use both locally and regionally,” he said.

Mr Mutale said the MoU would help in facilitating quick clearance of products and that the Malawi Bureau of Standards would be able to recognise the products due to thorough continuous testing and conformity assessments by ZABS.

He said ZABS was confident that the Malawi Bureau of Standards would recognise local products without subjecting them to further laboratory testing and certification once they had been tested and certified.

Mr Mutale said this implied that the Zambian business community exporting products to Malawi would only be required to have their products tested once, thus reducing the cost of doing business on their part.

“I would therefore like to urge the business community and industry in Zambia to take advantage of the MoU by ensuring that they bring their products to ZABS for testing and certification.

“This will aid in recognizing that the products are safe for consumption and more so for export markets not only to Malawi but also to other countries,” he said.

Mr Mutale said ZABS was committed to working closely with the business community and industry in ensuring that their products were meeting the set standards.

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Central insurance data base proposed to detect fraud

BY MAILESI BANDA

THERE is urgent need to create a central data base for people that purchase insurance services to reduce on fraud, Professional Insurance head of underwriting and strategy, Webster Twaambo, has advised.

Mr. Twaambo said without the data base it was difficult to detect fraud.

He said the absence of the pool data base of people that purchased insurance had led to insurance companies losing money as some clients made claims from different insurance companies for one incident.

“At the moment it is difficult to detect fraud in insurance. Someone can claim from two different insurance companies because there is no pool data base for the companies to detect fraud,’’ he said.

He said having a pool data would help in the detection of fraud and save the insurance industry huge sums of money.

He said insurance companies had fallen victim to paying claims on incidents where the person who had paid the insurance was at fault due to failure to prove.

He said if the insurance sector had a central pool data it was going to be easy for them to detect who was insuring with other companies and who had made a claim.

“If we have pool data base we could find a way of detecting fraud and know those who have defaulted with other insurance companies.

“Currently in the insurance sector one person could move from all the 22 insurance companies without being detected and this is not safe for the growth of the sector,’’ he said.

He said currently it was easy for people to move from one insurance company to the next and leave debt as there was no genuine way to detect who owed which insurance company money.

He stated that the current average debt ratio was about 50 percent, adding that a central data base could help in ensuring that people did not move from one insurer to the next without settling their debt.