Samfya residents ignorant about government bonds

Several Samfya residents have said they cannot invest
in government bonds and other products on the money
market because they lack adequate information on how
to go about the kind of investment.

And the residents, who include government workers,
have asked the government through the Central Bank to
make available adequate information to people in rural
areas on how they can invest their surplus money on
the money market.

A snap survey by ZANIS today revealed that a
cross-section of people in Samfya, including government
workers, is ignorant of investment opportunities
available to individuals and institutions on the money
market.

Some said the investment capital required to buy
products on the money market is very high and as such
it is a preserve for the elite. Others completely
expressed ignorance about the existence of a money
market and do not even know products like government
bonds.

A medical doctor who did not want to be named said he
has heard about the money market and that government
issues bonds through Bank of Zambia.

But he said as far as he knows, investing in government
bonds and the stock market is a preserve for the elite
businessmen and politicians in Lusaka who happen to
have access to this information.

The doctor said investing in government bonds cannot
be his option if he happened to have surplus money
because he does not know where to get information and
how he can go about investing in government bonds.

The doctor said he also does not know the safety and
benefits of investing money in government bonds.

An officer with the fisheries department Mumba Wonani
also said he has heard about the stock market and
government bonds from a distance, but said he needed
more information to be educated on how a common man
can benefit from the money market.

“For example me, I have heard about those things
(government bonds) from a distance. I’m still ignorant
about them and I need somebody to educate me,” Mr Wonani
said.

Mr Wonani said he thinks the investment capital
required on the money market is also very high.

But when Mr Wonani was reminded that some short-term
government bonds can be bought starting from as low as
one million to about K30 million and pay better
interest than commercial banks, he said then
government needed to avail such information.

He said in fact the money market can be a good
investment alternative to pensioners.

He said at present pensioners were all like falling in
a ditch by investing their pension benefits in
building shops and buying second hand vehicles that
end up breaking down soon.

And a local Samfya entrepreneur Cosam Chimbini said he
is not aware of the money market as he only knows
markets for agricultural products and services.

Mr Chimbini told ZANIS that if a money market exists
through which institutions and individuals can lend
money to government and earn interest then much has
not been done to sensitise people in rural areas on
how the market system operates.

He suggested that government should use ZANIS and the
department of marketing and cooperatives in districts
to sensitise the public on how the money market
operates and the benefits that accrue to investors and
the government.

He said alternatively Zambia Chamber of Small and
medium Business Association (ZACSMBA) can be used to
reach out to emerging entrepreneurs to educate them
about the money market and its functions.

He said lack of information on where they can
get the information on how to invest in the money
market makes entrepreneurs to spend excess
money on luxury than put it in the bank account that
does not pay good interest.