Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Investors Welcome the Firing of Mwanakatwe, Push Zambian Bonds higher on the International Market

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President Lungu Congratulating the Newly Appointed Minister of Finance
President Lungu Congratulating the Newly Appointed Minister of Finance

International Media is reporting that investors have welcomed the firing of Former Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe by pouring funds into the Zambia bonds as evidenced by the rise of the Zambia bonds on the International Market.

According to Reuters, Zambia’s dollar-denominated government bonds jumped on Monday after the President Lungu sacked Finance Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe and appointed central bank deputy governor Bwalya Ng’andu to replace her and Bloomberg also reported that the price of Zambia’s dollar bonds due in September 2022 rose 1.7%, the most since June 20, to 66.9 cents on the dollar, equating to a yield of 19.9%.

Bwalya Ng’andu was sworn in as Zambia’s new finance minister, a day after Margaret Mwanakatwe was fired from
the post. Ng’andu, 64, a former deputy governor of Zambia’s central bank, is the third person to hold the post in three years. He was sworn in at a ceremony at the presidency in the capital, Lusaka.

According to Bloomberg, Dr Ng’andu’s appointment comes as the government tries to revive an economy that the International Monetary Fund says is growing at the slowest pace in more than two decades, after a slump in
the price of copper, Zambia’s main export. A drought is causing power shortages and an escalating dispute with copper producers has not helped either.

Bloomberg news further stated that the incoming finance minister will need to soothe investor concerns that Zambia may default on its debts unless it gets a bailout from the IMF or negotiates easier terms on loans it obtained from China and that he’ll also have to rein in the government’s ballooning budget deficit, possibly with spending cuts. The shortfall in the first quarter was 4.8 billion Kwacha ($383 million), 12% higher than the Finance Ministry’s forecast. The ministry has a deficit target of 6.5% of gross domestic product this year, compared with 10% last year.

According to Bloomberg, Chibamba Kanyama, a Lusaka-based independent economist also welcomed the appointment of Dr Ngandu as the new Finance Minister.

“He comes from a banking setup, so he understands a lot more about the actual realities of the Zambian economy,” said

“He is not a politician and by virtue of him not being a politician, I am sure he will rein in colleagues. I am very sure that he will be able to succeed if he focuses on the fiscal macro economic stabilization and also and do away with sales tax.,” he added

And Barrick Gold Corp. Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow told reporters in Lusaka on today that they are are very encouraged by the appointment of the new Finance Minister, who is a technocrat.

Dr. Lubinda Haabazoka
Dr. Lubinda Haabazoka

Meanwhile, the Economic Association of Zambia (EAZ) has welcomed the appointment of Dr Bwalya Ng’andu as Minister Finance.

EAZ president Lubinda Habazoka has experience in economic matters as he has served in various portfolios in Zambia and outside the country.

Dr. Haabazoka said the association will consult the new finance Minister widely on economic matters.

Meanwhile Bankers Association of Zambia (BAZ) president Leonard Mwanza said his association is hopeful the new minister of finance will address the fiscal challenges the country is facing.

Mr. Mwanza said there is need for the new minister to focus more on increasing revenue base to stimulate economic growth.

The two were speaking to ZNBC news in separate interviews in Lusaka today.

48 COMMENTS

  1. Yes Maggie disapointed but then what else was expected of her? Maggie was/is a reflection of the level of the appointing authority-birds of the same feathers stick together.It is not about Bwalya Ng’andu being a technocrat or Banker BUT a matter of the efficacy of the appointing authority- the President!! See how Mwanawasa matched with Magande and for sometime Mr.Lungu matched with Maggie – check the approach to work and social life..!! Ba Ng’andu may soon find him in bad books if he wants to apply his professionalism!!

    • Bwalya Ngandu looks like Kaizer Zulu, maybe they are brothers.
      He is not close relative to Ngandu Magande.

    • Look at that fat boy Habazoka even after excessive boot-licking he didn’t get a phone-call even for his opinion that’s foooolish everyone sees him

    • This is the power of “Fundamental Analysis” in Capital Markets. What a president does and says of any given nation has an effect of Sovereign Bonds and Capital Markets as a whole.

      It is true that the markets have reacted positively going by the reaction on Bloomberg & Thomson Reuters Terminals this afternoon. I was critical to his appointment early in the day. I hope Dr Nganda proves me wrong ++.

      So far the markets are in favour because Lungu has fired Mwanakatwe. That is a good sign.

      Wow!! Yesterday, Dr Ngandu was reporting to the BOZ Governor. Today he is the boss of the BOZ Governor. I hope they had a good relation, cause the tables have turned upside down.

    • Chibamba Kanyama feels threatened by the reintroduction of the sales tax because he knows that this is the way to go and chances of him being appointed finance minister by the UPND will disappear if the PF succeeds through the sales tax

    • Finance minister reports to the President, while BOZ governor reports to the BOZ board. thought Minister is senior to the governor as he implements the fiscal policy Governor implements the monetary policy. Which together constitutes the whole economy.

  2. Maggie was useless but Bwalya Ng’andu is also not suitable for Finance Minister. What is so difficult for lungu to appoint a qualified and competent ECONOMIST? He brought in Mutati an Accountant who was just good at talking, he again brought another Accountant who is also a drunkard. Now he has brought a psychologist!!

    • You are just showing foooolishness.
      Who told you Finance Minister has to be economist?
      It is embarrassing to have Zambians thinking so primitive.

    • Yes Danielle is very Right!!
      BN is a Psychologist from former ZCCM.
      In a country with seemingly a lack of simple Financial Fiscal understanding, you can’t simply say a Finance minister can be anyone – if indeed we had a PS & his civil servant’s who performed to their best, we wouldn’t be in the quagmire that we find ourselves – yes , we could then afford to have yesterday’s street sweeper being appointed to the post.
      The only reason Bonds are resurging & commentators are celebrating – is simply because the scalp of an utterly hopeless FM has been struck out! The jury is still out as concerns BN – someone who knows how to pull strings – if my memory serves me right, the same questions that surrounded his appointment to Deputy Gov of BOZ will be asked again!! Watch the space!!

  3. Dr. Ng’andu’s appointment really means nothing because there is no political will to address the fundamental problems such as an end to reckless borrowing and cutting the head count and civil service expenditure by at least 30%.

  4. I once met this guy at boz in the elevator.

    He greeted me like we were old friends.

    Everybody at Finance will enjoy working with guy . Hes very inspiring

    • zolo – First impressions are very important. You need very little time to make an impact on someone or someone to develop an opinion about you. I have also met BN and he seems like a nice guy – but that in itself does not translate into efficacy.

  5. Lets just wait and see how the mess will clear up with this appointment! First, gains by the Kwacha on world major currencies, then steadfast measures curbing expenditure of resources which are unavailable!

  6. Changing the goal keeper for a team that has spent heavily but is always losing and is nearing relegation will not help.

    Change the manager is what will turn the teams fortunes around….

    Sack the manager…..

    • Yes sack him for 6 straight losses.

      He is very self centered and not a team play.

      Even all his bloggers work as stone throwers. They dont espouse any economic, soocial , moral, political values.

      They all listen to him and do what he tells them. When he says dont talk to lungu, they all obey with reverence

    • The team manger ,HH , has put Zambia in a $17 billion debt , corruption and unemployment at their highest ….

      Yet he is changing goal keeper hopping for a miracle….

    • Best to sack the Manager who has failed his team to win a cup games 6 times. He has tried to bring in a new assistant manager but they all fall out with him in the end. The last assistance manager is called Godfrey Mwamba Bwalya or GBM, who has said the the Team Manager of UPND is totally useless.

    • Me thinks the country will benefit more if the one incharge of landing us in $17 billion debt is sacked …….sacking HH will have no effect on Zambia.

      However sacking lungu will immediately inspire investores who fear he will steal their money

    • Spaka bakocha boyi!
      Just analyze issues based on your head not HH who is always opposing Govt without an alternative idea.
      $17m is nothing for Zambia. This is just the debt level of Lagos Municipal Council iweeee! It is only because most of us Zambians cannot make any money bust busy just importing used cars straining the Kwacha.

  7. Look at CBU. Your children are suffering because of a woman.

    Never pick women simply to balance gender.

    Mumbi

    Kantu luwe

    Pamela

    Women can be big let down

  8. For once I agree with SPAKA today.This is what we have been telling UPND to sack the manager (HH) who has lost several elections since 2006!!!A losing team can only start winning games after changing the coach and some players.This confirms that if UPND adopt HH in 2021,A RECORD 6TH STRAIGHT DEFEAT SHALL BE A MUST!!!
    Back to the issue at hand,indeed Dr.Bwalya Ng’andu is a good appointment and many Zambians have welcome it.But i would have prefered appointing a PURE ECONOMIST such as Dr.Habazoka,Dr.Saasa,Dr.Fundanga,etc as a Finance Minister.Anyway,congratulations Dr.Bwalya Ng’andu!!!

    • @Spaka. HH has also never held a press conference to address the nation since he became the president of Zambia Lol. HH also leads a government that procured 42 fire trucks at USD $1000 000.00 each. It’s HH who allows ministers to remain in office while under investigation for corrupt practices involving millions of dollars. Zambia should come up with a regulation that doesn’t allow anyone without tertiary education to vote.

  9. I believe BoZ understands the national economic challenges well. Just lest “operational interference” as is happening with the judiciary.

  10. Still not clear why this job was not given to the BOZ Governor? If you want to appoint as Finance Minister an economist with Reserve Bank experience would you not appoint the most senior man at the Reserve Bank? If Ng’andu is the best brains at the Reserve bank why is he deputy?
    Simply put Dr Kalyalya should have been appointed Finance Minister and Dr Ng’andu promoted to BOZ Governor
    I hope it wasn’t a case of where one comes from ……..

    • The good thing about him is that he is not a politician a typical example is how he answered the question on introduction of Sales Taxes stating that it was unwise to introduce it in the middle of a fiscal year…a Politician would have just said its coming!!

    • Mulenga Tembo – BOZ Governor is a very senior civil servant, MoF is a politician. BN has dubbed into politics, Kalyalya has not. Better to leave him at BOZ – he is a good Central Bank Governor. If ECL had moved Kalyalya, he would have had to look for a Central Bank Governor and not move BN up.

    • @abilima – but BN will now be Kalyalya’s boss and can even override his decisions. BN having dubbed into politics is not necessarily a plus but rather a negative if you are looking for an objective technocrat to get us out of this economic mess. Kalyalya also has strong links and working experience with the IMF and World Bank which could prove essential in negotiating the inevitable bail-out packages.
      Lets agree the appointment was mainly driven by partisian politics and not merit ………as usual.

  11. Not very often that i’m inspired by Bwana Lungu’s moves and actions but this one of firing Mwanakatwe and appointing this guy is truly inspiring. Well done Lungu.

  12. The recent incessant bootlicker, who is probably ‘shocked’ he didn’t get that all important call, is quoted above, thus;

    “Dr. Haabazoka said the association will consult the new finance Minister widely on economic matters”

    Shouldn’t it be the other way round, if you are the ‘real’ economist? The finance minister consulting your Economic Association.

  13. What is fundamentally wrong in Zambia now are the politics of the PF. When the politics are right any adequately qualified person will perform. ECL is just messing up the careers of these politically naive individuals who accept his appointments merely for it`s prestige without demanding from him to improve the operational political climate for a Finance Minister in the PF Government. This is what Mwanawasa did for Magande and Magande was able to perform.PF is currently very hostile for any FM and that is partly why Maggy was ever drunk.I feel sorry for this new man.

  14. Good appointment, if you all agree as indicated by your comments above!!

    And look at that frog Habanjoka, just the other day it was still praising Mwanakatwe.

    “Dr. Haabazoka said the association will consult the new finance Minister widely on economic matters.”
    Dr Ng’andu, I offer you free advice, if you want to succeed to turn around the economy please please keep this Habanjoka away from your office. Don’t listen to its dunderhead as “advice”. It is a pure boot licking frog, it was aspiring itself to be the next finance minister probably. I don’t know what economics it has in its head I just can’t see anything in either its mouth or its brain… really laughable!!

  15. On another thought, did you notice that whenever Hon Mwanakatwe announced austerity measures, the very next day her boss was addressing a rally of party cadres and directing money to be released for unbudgetted expenditure? Dr Ng’andu may fall in the same boat, remember that now he is a politician rather than a BoZ professional, his actions will now be dictated or DIRECTED by “cabinet”, you know WHO. Just the other day the DIRECTER commissioned the construction of 102 mini hospitals across the country, with 2021 in mind nothing else. I really sympathise with you Dr Ng’andu, you have to find money where there is none, remember it was announced recently at a forum in Mozambique that there is no country in the world which does not borrow (endlessly).
    Mukose bakalamba ba Ng’andu wesu!!!!

  16. Meantime we have Trib.al Hacks wasting our time pretending to be a politician, always yapping on irrelevant subjects, just watch him at his press briefing today if you have time to waste… trib.als are really time wasters, almost dead anyway …. and really laughable!!

    I wish Hon Peter Sinkamba greens was also addressing a press briefing today, we could have something to read about tomorrow morning, not that trib.al ….really laughable !!!!

  17. In a fictitious Trib.al Hacks cabinet, he would be President, finance minister, and occupy half the other cabinet ministers. Reason,? If you look at trib.al upnd can you see any ministerial material? …. the “party” is really laughable!!

    • @UPND cadre, I am tempted to disagree with your comment on ministerial material in UPND.I think it’s PF which lacks ministerial material. Twice, the PF failed to find a finance minister within parliament and have had to pick Felix mutati and now Bwalya Ngandu which shows that they don’t have material within. Look at the kind of people they appoint: Kampyongo, Chitotela, Kapata, lusambo, Mwakalombe, mwanakatwe, Mwila, Simukoko, Sichone, Sikazwe, Musukwa, and many others. I hear they wanted to field a candidate without a grade 12 certificate in Lubwa ward, kitwe. Please for me, it’s nothing personal and I am not even a Tonga. Not that I have a problem with being a Tonga but just so you know a sober view of issues is more important than just looking tribes.

  18. Upnd cadre stop that tribal sh$t, that’s all you talk about don’t you have anything good to say about other tribes. We are all the same people, breathe the same air, excrete the same stuff so why you think some tribes are better than others. When the Chinese look at you they don’t see Tonga or Bemba but some backward Africans to exploit

  19. Yaba daba doo time always around here. Lots of birds chirping in the trees. A lot of educated fools who are not that smart at all. It’s shameful really. Loud mouths everywhere.

  20. The solution for the Zambian economic hardship isn’t changing finance ministers every now and then. Financial discipline among our leaders is needed, number one: cut unnecessary expenditure, number 2: be trust worth leaders who aim at stabilizing the country’s economy rather than fattening their pockets of which will result into nothing at the end of it all coz the economy isn’t stable. Imposing high taxes to Zambian doesn’t solve the matter neither. The question they should ask themselves is: how do we deal with debts when we have limited resources??? I bet all our leaders are family men and women who have homes. Surely a parent borrowed alone and missused the money alone and later put pressure to his children even the smollest that each should be bringing 2 coins each day to pay…

  21. Whether you like it or not, presidents in Africa dictate the pace of development. Every one is happy that there is a new FM but little are we forgetting that what will matter is whether the appointing authority will allow the FM to implement his plans and with his team as professionals. That will be a decisive factor to the performance of the new FM. The moment the appointing authority will stand in his way, that will be the beginning of the end of his professional career. If he will be intimidated, my advise to him is that let him resign to save his face for the future.

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