Wed, 26 Apr 2017 11:56:45 +0000
Funders looking for smart ways to deliver aid
By SHEILA SAKUPWANYA
THE International Development Enterprises (IDE) has pledged its commitment to increase the incomes and wellbeing of Zambian small scale farmers through innovative and affordable market-based products and services.
IDE global chief executive officer Tim Prewitt observed that the emerging smart funders and social investors were tired of traditional aid and were now looking for innovative, nimble solutions that delivered return on investments.
Speaking at the Lima Link media briefing recently, Mr Prewitt said his organization believed in the power of business to fight poverty.
“Working with entrepreneurs, small businesses, farmers, multinational businesses, and governments in leveraging growth and create business opportunities for some of the poorest people on the planet in a bid to fight poverty,” he said. Mr Prewitt said the IDE’s global vision for 2020 was to make large, lasting increases to the incomes and well-being of another 20 million poor people through innovative and affordable market-based products and services in its 11 country offices worldwide.
He said IDE was committed to support Lima Links and ensure its growth and reach as many Zambian smallholder farmers as possible.
“I want to thank Airtel Zambia for your commitment to driving this partnership and product forward and working with Lima Links to ensure accessible ICT and financial services to smallholder farmers is achieved,” Mr Prewitt said. And IDE country director Melanie Wilkinson said IDE Zambia was determined to help smallholder farmers in ensuring that they were able to competitively participate in agro business activities. “Our 2020 ambition as IDE Zambia is to shape the future of smallholder agriculture by unlocking the potential of the nation’s smallholder farmer because the founding of Lima Links is a core part of that ambition,” she said.
Lima Links in partnership with Airtel Zambia allows farmers, input suppliers and buyers to connect, buy and sell from each other in a cost effective manner. It also enables farmers, their market agents, and other agri-business partners, to have access to a range of mobile money options including making and receiving payments or pre-payments for inputs or purchase of fresh produce on order using Airtel Money services.
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Turkey invited to invest in Zambian ceramics
By MAILESI BANDA
TURKEY should consider investing in the Zambian ceramic manufacturing industry, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) secretary general, Sindiso Ngwenya, has advised.
Mr. Ngwenya said Zambia was endowed with raw materials that could be used in the manufacturing of ceramic tiles, adding that this would help in the growth of the economy and contribute to the creation of jobs for youths.
Speaking during the presentation of credentials by the ambassador of Turkey to Zambia and COMESA region, Ms Sebnem Incesu, he said the Turkish government should consider extending the investment in the production of ceramic tiles from Tanzania to Zambia.
He said Zambia had the potential to grow in the manufacturing industry once investments in the sector were increased.
“I therefore appeal to the Turkish government on behalf of the Zambian government and COMESA to consider investing in the production of ceramic tiles just like they did in Tanzania. There is a big market for tiles in the country because even while the country is endowed with enough raw materials for production, ceramic tiles are being imported,’’ he said.
He stated that there was potential for the growth of the manufacturing industry, adding that there was more potential in Zambia due to the availability of raw materials.
And Mr Incesu said she would foster economic partnerships between Turkey, Zambia and the COMESA region.
She announced that the embassy had facilitated a trip to Turkey for agriculture ministers from the African region next week and that during the conference ways on how the agriculture sector could be used to grow the African economy would be discussed.
She said the meeting was among the many plans that the country had to help the African economy attain growth.
“Turkey’s bilateral trade volume with the African region has reached USD17.5 billion and the total investment as of the year 2015 was USD6.2 billion and had created 16,593 jobs in the same year,’’ she said.
She pledged to work with the Zambian government and the COMESA region to enhance trade and investment opportunities.
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Prioritize public investment, urges World Bank
BY MAILESI BANDA
THERE is need for public investment to be a priority in sub-Saharan Africa for the continent to have growth and attract more investment, World Bank economist for Africa region Albert Zeufack has said.
Mr. Zeufack said the decentralization in investment growth had pulled down the share of investment in the GDP by 1.05 percentage points, reserving the cumulative gains in the measure over the three previous years.
According to the Africa Pulse report published this month, he said public investments directly boosted the overall investments in the African economy and could foster private investments.
He said few countries in the region were positioned to ramp up public investments, adding that most countries had little fiscal space to increase public investment because of their high debt to GDP ratios.
He said external financing conditions had tightened and that increased uncertainty in the United States and Europe made tapping debt markets increasingly difficult and risky.
He explained that countries with low tax revenues and weak banking systems had under-developed capital markets and this limited the share of domestic resources that could be allocated to public investment.
He said in low income countries regulatory and implementation capacity constraints were key obstacles in scaling up investment in infrastructure.
Mr. Zeufack said domestic resources were likely to remain the dominant source of financing for infrastructure, adding that increased domestic revenue could provide the most sustainable way to finance infrastructure investment.
He said countries needed to strengthen the pipeline of bankable projects that can meet the financial objectives of private investors.
He said effective public financial management capacity was critical for the scaling up of infrastructure investment spending and that countries should seek to strengthen the capacity for project selection and appraisal in order for them to enhance the monitoring of project execution to minimize leakages.
He said a regional approach to the provision of infrastructural services was needed to overcome the region’s geographic and physical challenges.
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Businesses catch on with ZABS product testing
By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
THE Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) has recorded a 37 percent above target for sample testing in the period between January and April 2017, says agency head of marketing and public relations, Hazel Zulu.
Ms Zulu explained that the bureau in the first quarter of 2017 targeted to test and analyse 2,625 product samples but instead tested and analysed 3,608 product samples, representing an increase of 37 percent.
She said in a statement that products were tested for compliance and ensure they conform to set Zambian standards.
“Products tested during the period under review include miscellaneous food stuffs, petroleum samples, water, condoms and fruit-flavoured drinks, among others. The highest product samples tested was water,” she said.
Ms Zulu said such a positive development reflected the increase in levels of awareness on product compliance.
She emphasised that product sample testing was significant because it was the only sure and accurate way to confirm that products were compliant to the set standards, thereby making them competitive on the market.
“We are very pleased with this positive development as it reflects the increase in levels of awareness and the value that industry and individuals alike have seen in ensuring that their products are reliable and safe through laboratory testing,” Ms Zulu said.
“We therefore urge all industry players to make product testing a business priority to help boost their businesses and attract customer loyalty and confidence,” she said.
Ms Zulu said ZABS had modern testing laboratories for testing and analysing of products to national and international standards as well as client specifications.
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ZRA plans to audit township businesses
By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
CLOSE to 200 enforcement officers and inspectors from the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) are this year expected to be deployed countrywide in a bid to ensure all businesses are tax compliant.
And the authority has warned that being non-tax compliant was no longer an option and that the consequences if one was caught were regrettable.
ZRA commissioner general, Kingsley Chanda, said the 200 officers to be deployed would target all businesses, including those which hide in compounds.
“We are recruiting close to 200 ZRA enforcement officers and inspectors to deploy them to ensure that all those shops are visited and the situation is corrected.
“By evading now, we will assume that what they are evading now is what they have been evading all this time. We will audit all businesses including those in the compounds,” he said.
Mr Chanda said the authority was concerned at the number of businesses which were not tax compliant especially in compounds.
And Mr Chanda said the authority had in the last two weeks impounded more trucks which were about to exit Zambia illegally.
“Being non-tax complaint is no longer an option and the consequences if we catch up with you will be surely regrettable. This is not an empty threat. Ask transporters and importers who have lost their trucks and goods for smuggling in the last two weeks,” he said.
Mr Chanda emphasised that the authority was no longer prosecuting and fining smugglers but instead seized and forfeited both the vessels being used for smuggling and the goods.
He said ZRA was also blacklisting the clearing companies involved in smuggling.
“Clearly therefore it is cheaper to comply than to be caught evading tax. This is a timely warning to all business, small and large; local or multinational,” he said.
