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Bespoke fashion designer Kabaso Nkandu of the trending fashion label Nkanda Yatu showcased his designs on the Windhoek Fashion Week runway on the 9th of November 2019 in the sunny city of Windhoek. This debut made Nkanda Yatu the first Zambian fashion designer to participate in the event with the most sought-after runway in Namibia.
In its fourth year running, Windhoek Fashion Week has proven to be a valuable platform for African fashion designers. “The Windhoek Fashion Week is a platform that was created to bring opportunity to African designers, jewelers, models and so forth” said Luis Munana, the Founder and Director of the Windhoek Fashion Week.
“It is an honour to have received an invitation to share Zambian creativity in Namibia. My team and I left the runway with so much more than an applause, we took with us many lessons and skills in international fashion and design.” stated Nkandu. Designer Kabaso Nkandu was accompanied by prominent Zambian model and Brand Ambassador of Nkanda Yatu, Christina Sakala who closed off the show in sheer elegance raising the Zambian flag even higher among a Pan-African audience of fashion enthusiasts.
Christina Sakala
Further details of the showcase can be found on the Nkanda Yathu and Windhoek Fashion Week social media pages.
Some soccer fans in Kitwe are calling for the overhauling of the entire Chipolopolo squad.
Fans interviewed in the town centre say changes must be made to both the playing squad and the Aggrey Chiyangi led coaching bench.
Zambia are bottom of Group H of the 2021 Africa Cup qualifying campaign after losing the first two matches to Algeria and Zimbabwe.
‘Substitutions made by the coach were not good. How can they substitute Evans Kangwa who was playing well? I am blaming the coach for the loss,’ a fan said.
‘We just need to overhaul the team. Zambia has fine players, we can still make strong team again,’ another fan added.
Chipolopolo are on zero points, behind Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa who have 1, 4 and 6 points respectively.
‘Chances of qualifying are slim as we are just remaining with two games, two home and two away,’ Proper Mumba said.
Zambia resumes its Group H campaign next August away to Botswana.
Where is ZEMA? As companies continue to pollute the environment to the detriment of the health of residents and their farm produce. Here crops in Makeni covered with quarry dust and other unknown pollutants from AFCON
The Lusaka Roads Decongestion Project by AFCON is welcome by all meaning members of the public, however at what cost is it to the Environment and people in general?
This company has set up a plant in Lusaka Makeni Farming area amidst farmers and human habitat. This is not right as this plant should have been in the industrial area and not in a farming area. This Plant is located at the Kamanga’s farm just after grey Zulu area. They buy quarry from united quarries company for their raw materials and store heaps and mountains of it at the same plant. The Quarry dust blows westwards to the farms and communities which are in the same area.
Secondly the equipment/Crushers on site also emit a discharge which is not known and has also affected the environment in one way or the other. The people living in this area are having health challenges in terms of breathing due to the polluted air that they breathe day in and day out. They don’t even open windows for fresh air, the plants are not spared as can be seen form the attached pictures, crops have gone to waste due to this and thousands of Kwachas have been lost. Even poultry has not been spared.
The Company AFCON has been engaged several times to find out what they are doing about this but despite several meetings nothing has come forth, yet day in and day out they continue to pollute the environment and endanger the people’s lives. Even employees at the farm do not have dust masks as they work at the plant. ZEMA was written to and they came to inspect but no report has been availed ever since.
Questions arise, was an environmental assessment done, if so where is it? Secondly how was approval made for such a plant to be located amidst farms and human habitat . All this can be verified. Is the cost of Lusaka decongestion project at the expense human health and crops as well as the environment at large? This appeal is to have relevant authorities address this matter before lives are lost and more damage is made to our environment.
Crops on a farm in Makeni Lusaka covered with quarry dust from AFCONCrops on a farm in Makeni Lusaka covered with quarry dust from AFCONCrops on a farm in Makeni Lusaka covered with quarry dust from AFCONCrops on a farm in Makeni Lusaka covered with quarry dust from AFCONCrops on a farm in Makeni Lusaka covered with quarry dust from AFCONCrops on a farm in Makeni Lusaka covered with quarry dust from AFCONCrops on a farm in Makeni Lusaka covered with quarry dust from AFCONCrops on a farm in Makeni Lusaka covered with quarry dust from AFCON
Energy Minister Mathew Nkhuwa has disclosed that state owned power utility ZESCO recorded K2.8 billion losses in the 2018 financial year.
In 2016, ZESCO posted a K137 million loss while in 2017, the losses jumped to K270 million.
Mr Nkhuwa said consequently, ZESCO has recorded an unsatisfactory rate of return on assets and has faced challenges to settle debts, owing to its weakened financial position.
The Energy Minister revealed this on Wednesday during a High Level Policy Dialogue Forum with Cooperating Partners in Lusaka.
Mr Nkhuwa observed that the high cost of power purchases from independent power producers and the cost of emergency power imports for 2015 – 2016 has been the major contributor to ZESCO’s liquidity challenges.
“This has also affected our ability to attract the significant amount of funding required for the sector’s diversification and successful completion of the significant number of electricity power projects already in pipeline,” Mr Nkhuwa said.
He said government is committed to creating a platform that will remove barriers and promote effectiveness in processes relating to investment in the sector in order to spur private sector participation in power generation.
“Undeniably, a number of private sector players have expressed interest to invest in electricity projects. However, given the market structure, these developers are looking to ZESCO Limited to underpin their development as the sole off-taker,” he said.
“Regrettably, the tariffs arising from the new power generation projects are significantly above ZESCO’s average selling price, resulting in losses on the utility’s part in the order of millions of United States Dollars per year, despite the fact that domestic tariffs were increased by 75% (from an average of USc 3.3/kWh to USc 6.18/kWh in 2017) and Mining tariffs increased to an average of USc9.3/kWh.”
Mr Nkhuwa said the increment factor is such that the overall increment in revenue collections was greatly affected by the depreciation of the Zambian Kwacha against the US Dollar.
“An increment in tariff from 3.3c/kWh to 6.18c/kWh meant that the revenue collections increased by a factor of 1.9. However, with the Kwacha depreciating against the dollar from trading at 9.68 in 2017 to 11.88c/kWh. The increase reduced to a factor of 1.5c/kWh in 2018 and then 1.3 in 2019 when the Kwacha further depreciated to 13.91.”
He charged that the reality is that ZESCO’s current average tariffs are still far-fetched below the cost of production from new Independent Power Producers (IPP) whose average tariffs are approximately US 11 cents per kilowatt hour.
Central Bank Governor Denny Kalyalya told a media briefing yesterday that the second quarter of 2019, real GDP grew by 2.3%, down from 3.9% during the corresponding period in 2018.
“Contraction in mining output, construction as well as transport and storage accounts for the slowdown in real GDP growth,” he said.
Dr Kalyalya said economic activity is projected to remain subdued and the recovery is weak.
“In 2019, GDP is projected to significantly decline to about 2.0% from 4.0% in 2018 premised on projected contraction in agriculture, constrained electricity generation, and lower than anticipated mining output. This calls for concerted efforts by all economic agents to put back on an upward and strong growth path,” he said.
Zambia has $3 billion of Eurobonds outstanding. Its ratio of debt to gross domestic product(GDP) will rise to 92% by the end of 2019, triple the figure from 2015, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The situation is exacerbated by the government’s struggle to rein in spending and a severe drought, which is hammering agricultural output and hydropower generation.
The Bank of Zambia has decided to revise upwards the Monetary Policy Rate by 125 basis points to 11.50%. The decision was arrived at by the Monetary Policy Committee at its Meeting held on November 18 -19, 2019.
Dr Kalyalya said inflation is projected to remain above the upper bound of the 6-8% target range over the entire forecast 2019 to third quarter of 2021 due to heightened upside risks.
He said the decision to raise the Policy Rate is intended to counter inflationary pressures and bring inflation back to the target range in the medium term and hence support overall macroeconomic stability.
Dr Kalyalya added, “the MPC was mindful of the marked deceleration in growth and risks to financial stability. In this regard, the MPC recognised the importance and need for other tools that include macro prudential and fiscal policy measures to address these risks.”
He stated, “Furthermore, and as indicated in previous MPC Statements, monetary policy alone is not sufficient to address prevailing economic challenges and to restore macroeconomic stability. It must be complemented by corrective fiscal and structural policy measures.”
“In October, overall inflation rose to 10.7% as food inflation increased to 13.3% while non-food inflation slowed down to 7.8%,” Dr Kalyalya said.
“On account of heightened upside risks, inflation is projected to remain above the upper bound of the 6-8% target range over the entire forecast horizon (Q4 2019 – Q3 2021.”
He stated that the risks, which manifest through the expectations and exchange rate channels, include persistent high food prices, electricity shortages leading to extended load shedding, slower than anticipated progress on fiscal consolidation and high external debt service payments.
Dr Kalyalya said decisions on the Policy Rate will continue to be guided by inflation forecasts and outcomes, identified risks, and progress in the execution fiscal consolidation measures.
Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) President Andrew Ntewewe has confirmed that United Party for National Development (UPND) cadres who were in the company of UPND Senior leader Sylvia Masebo have attacked former National Dialogue Forum Spokesperson, Isaac Mwanza, at the portico of the Supreme Court Building Wednesday November 20, 2019 around 17:45 hours.
“The incident happened immediately after the Constitutional Court adjourned the hearing of the petition by Chapter One Foundation and Law Association of Zambia challenging the enactment of the Constitution of Zambia (Amendment) Bill No. 10 of 2019,” said Mr Ntewewe.
The cadres attacked Mr. Mwanza shortly after the country’s Attorney General had finished conferring with him at the staircase of the Supreme Court Building. He was rescued by the Judiciary Security staff who whisked him away using the other alternative gate as the UPND cadres had remained vigil at the usual exit gate. Mr. Mwanza is being medically attended and not in any grave danger.
He said Mr. Mwanza made no acts of provocation to those UPND thugs. If it is crime to confer with the Attorney General, then we don’t know where the UPND wants to take this country to.
This is the second time Mr. Mwanza is being attacked by UPND cadres. A similar incident happened last year after a program on Radio Phoenix.
Mr. Ntewewe called on the UPND leadership to take responsibility for the violence being occasioned to those citizens who disagree with them.
“The UPND must clearly understand that when endangered citizens decide to protect themselves against thuggerism from UPND members, the result can become extremely fatal,” he warned
The 2019/20 FAZ Super Division season made a sparkless return after a forgettable two-week international break with Zanaco and Green Buffaloes playing out to a 1-1 draw at Sunset Stadium in Lusaka on Wednesday.
Zanaco and Buffaloes went into the break of this Lusaka derby scoreless.
The deadlock was broken in a spell of two minutes when Chitiya Mususu tapped-in an assist from Lawrence Chungu in the 72nd minute.
Buffaloes equalized a minute later when Paul Simpemba punished Zanaco captain Ziyo Tembo’s defensive error to see the two sides share the points.
Buffaloes stay put at number five on 16 points from ten games played, eleven points behind leaders Zesco United and five adrift of second placed Napsa Stars.
Zanaco exchange places with Nkwazi up to 11th and 12th places respectively, tied on 11 points.
But Zanaco have played seven games with three matches in hand.
FILE: Vice President Inonge Wina confers with Corad Thombansen whilst Germany Ambassador Achim Burkart listens during the tour of stands shortly after the official opening of Zambia Water Forum and Exhibition at Government Complex yesterday 11-06-2018. Picture by ROYD SIBAJENE/ZANIS
The Cooperating Partners Group has urged the Zambian Government to work towards obtaining an International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme.
Cooperating Partners Group Chairperson who is also German Ambassador to Zambia Achim Burkart says the group is ready to support the country in this endeavor.
Speaking during the second-high level policy dialogue with cooperating Partners at Mulungushi International Conference centre in Lusaka today, Mr. Burkart describes the recent visit of an IMF team to Zambia as a sign that Government is determined to engage
ith the IMF.
And Mr. Burkart said fighting corruption remains work in progress and requires the commitment of all Zambians and cooperating partners.
He noted that Zambia has numerous institutions and regulations in place.
Mr. Burkart observed that the increase in hours of load shedding has negatively impacted businesses and low-income households that cannot afford alternative sources of energy.
He said the Cooperating Partners have called on Government to deal decisively with ZESCO’s financial situation.
And, National Development Planning Minister Alexander Chiteme informed the cooperating partners that government is now halfway in the implementation of the Zambia’s 7th National Development Plan and the mid-term evaluation of the plan to assess the country’ performance.
Mr. Chitime meeting today will review the economy and energy reform roadmap among others.
Information and Broadcasting Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo speaking at the official opening of the Media Self Regulation Insaka
Government has condemned remarks by German Ambassador to Zambia, Ackim Burkart in which the diplomat questioned and commented on some internal affairs and issues bordering on Governance.
Information and Broadcasting Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo says the statement by the German Envoy is meant to incite Zambians to rise against Government.
Mr. Kasolo told Journalists that the statement is also a violation of diplomatic etiquette which requires that diplomats respect the sovereignty of the countries in which they serve.
The Permanent Secretary said Mr. Burkart should have used the right channel to engage Government if he had any issues of concern as opposed to a statement to the media.
Mr. Kasolosaid Government will now engage the German Diplomat over the matter and appropriate action will be taken after the meeting.
He said Government is sometimes taken aback at the tendency by some diplomats of painting Zambia’s issues darker, than their own issues back home.
Mr. Burkart is quoted in some sections of the media suggesting that there could be an uproar in Germany if the Head of State there questioned the judgement of the constitutional Court as was the case in Zambia.
The German diplomat had also commented on private housing projects in the Forest 27 land matters.
Meanwhile, Mr. Kasolo has called on Politicians to desist from politicizing the operations of the Independent Broadcasting Authority – IBA.
He is saddened that Mazabuka Central Member of Parliament Garry Nkombo attacked IBA Director General Josephine Mapoma over the suspension of the broadcasting Licence of Lutanda radio in Kasama recently.
Mr. Kasolo said the IBA took the right stance to suspend the Licence for going against the IBA Act.
He explained that Lutanda Radio was given a one-month suspension because it was a first offender and that the radio station management can appeal to the Ministry of Information if they are not happy.
Mr. Kasolo said it is sad that Mr. Nkombo went on to attack the IBA Director General without fully understanding the IBA Act.
Chilubi and Kasama Members of Parliament Rosaria Fundanga and Kelvin Sampa
Chilubi Patriotic Front Member of Parliament Rosario Fundanga has died.
Mrs Fundanga died today and becomes the second female Member of Parliament to die this year after Patricia Mwashingwere of the UPND in Katuba Constituency.
Speaker of the national Assembly Patrick Matibini announced the death of Mrs Fundanga in Parliament this afternoon.
Mrs Fundanga, a development Expert was elected Member of Parliament on the Patriotic Front Ticket in the 2016 General elections.
Dr Matibini said other details concerning her death will be communicated in due course and Vice President Inonge Wina will move a motion to place on record the house’s condolences on the death of the MP.
And PF Media Director Antonio Mwanza posted on facebook that Mrs Fundanga collapsed at home this morning.
The Bank of Zambia has announced an increase in the Monetary Policy Rate from 10.25% percent to 11.50%.
Grappling with energy poverty and rising inflationary pressure, two day deliberations by the monetary policy committee commenced Monday 18th November into Tuesday with the announcement made by BOZ Governor Dr. Denny Kalyalya today.
The Kwacha has been on a one way traffic losing streak with a year to date depreciation of 17% given rising dollar demand and asset sell off pressure as sentiment wanes.
Zambia’s reserves are at a decade low at just below one and half yards translating to import cover 1.6 months which has incapacitated the central bank from sterilizing the market through offloading dollars.
The adjustment comes barely a week after the Central Bank increased the commercial banks overnight lending rate and for the same reason: curb inflation.
And Economist Chibamba Kanyama says the adjustment is a big adjustment in relative terms.
Mr Kanyama noted that the Bank of Zambia had announced this year it would increase the Monetary Policy Rate again if inflation continued to rise hence the decision was expected.
He said in his assessment, the Bank of Zambia remained faithful to its mandate and has carried out its work well to institute monetary interventions that would help stabilize the economy during the time of uncertainty.
Mr Kanyama however said that this is not a cure to the ongoing economic challenges as the more the Bank of Zambia intervenes in the market, the more things are not well and they need change of strategy.
He said the increasing the Monetary Policy Rate at the time the country is likely to register the lowest GDP growth rate in years, industrial output already affected by load shedding, government facing weak financing options and general liquidity conditions already tight is like continuously massaging a malaria-hit child with a wet cloth without knowing what to do next.
Meanwhile, Mr Kanyama added that the Ministry of Finance statement yesterday following the conclusion of the IMF Staff Visit did not provide much cheer either.
He noted that there is a paragraph in the statement that reveals that government has run out of options about what to do with the economy.
“The statement reads in part, ‘The Government will maintain close contact with the Fund in finding solutions and ensuring that policy interventions are undertaken to address challenges and vulnerabilities that the country is currently facing”, he said.
Mr Kanyama said whereas the BoZ move is aimed at stabilizing investor confidence, the same measures undertaken will have a long term detrimental effect on the economy.
He said the Central Bank has done its part but that part is to provide breathing space for fiscal policy to kick in much more aggressively, expand the size of government revenues, prioritise spending, make austerity an implementable strategy, provide effective leadership across the public sector.
Mr Kanyama said the Minister of Finance needs to have a stronger firm hand on the treasury, get the IMF program on board and get all citizens to understand what is happening and convince them to be ready to pay the full price.
“If we do not pay the price now, it will be harder as we get into 2022. This is one issue that now requires collective effort”, He added.
Zambia may be in no mood to tolerate much more currency depreciation, but it will be hard-pressed to prevent it.The central bank increased its overnight lending rate by 10 percentage points on Friday to a record high of 28%. The goal was to instill “stability in the market and to rein in inflationary pressures,” it said.
The kwacha has depreciated 4.7% this month against the dollar, almost as much as Chile’s peso, the world’s worst performer, leaving it 15% weaker this year. Inflation, meanwhile, accelerated to a three-year-high of 10.7% last month.“The central bank is looking to tighten kwacha liquidity, perhaps to quell demand for foreign exchange,” said Phumelele Mbiyo, a senior economist at Standard Bank Group Ltd. in Johannesburg.
The Monetary Policy Committee will also increase the copper producer’s base rate by 100 basis points to 11.25% on Wednesday, Mbiyo predicted.
There’s no guarantee the monetary tightening will work. Markets have long fretted about Zambia’s external debts, which the kwacha’s decline will only make more expensive to service.
Zambia’s dollar-bond yields average 19.6%, according to Bloomberg Barclays Indexes. That’s far into distressed territory, with only Argentina and Lebanon in a worse position.
The Southern African nation has $3 billion of Eurobonds outstanding. Its ratio of debt to gross domestic product will rise to 92% by the end of 2019, triple the figure from 2015, according to the International Monetary Fund.
The situation is exacerbated by the government’s struggle to rein in spending and a severe drought, which is hammering agricultural output and hydropower generation.
“The Bank of Zambia is in a challenging position,” Mbiyo said. “Most of the pressures facing the economy are either due to exogenous shocks because of the drought conditions earlier in the year or due to fiscal-policy conduct.”
Chingola residents have been notified that property rates are going to go up by over 100% effective 1st January, 2020. This is from our council that for years has not carried out any essential basic services like refuse disposal or providing clean water.How does the council justify these hikes when they don’t do anything for the town? All they do is collected rates. Many people are unemployed and even those employed are complaining that they can not afford these prices.
The council has said any objection should be accompanied by the latest surveyors evaluation of the property before 5th December. Mwe Bantu you need thousands of kwacha to engage a surveyor and nobody can afford that. This is very unfair. We appeal to the authorities to be considerate of the peoples plight.
The Non-governmental Gender Organisations’ Coordinating Council has condemned the recent tribal remarks broadcast on radio Lutanda in Northern Province.
NGOCC Board Chairperson Mary Mulenga said her Organisation has noted with sadness the trend by some people to try and divide the country based on tribe and regionalism.
Mrs Mulenga has said that history is replete with many sad stories of how such careless tribal and regional statements have caused conflicts that have degenerated into genocide.
“It is a fact that when conflict arises, the most vulnerable in society, the women and children, are worst affected in such situations. It is against this background that we urge all well-meaning Zambians especially our politicians, both in the ruling and opposition political parties, that as the country heads towards the 2021 General Elections, to please desist from inciting and soliciting votes on tribal and regional basis”, she said.
Mrs Mulenga has reiterated her appeal on President Edgar Lungu, as father of the nation, to provide leadership in this direction.
She noted that while the Government has released the report by the Commission on Violence and Voting Patterns, which was commissioned post the 2016 elections, it is our hope that citizens could be sensitized about some of the recommendations in that report.
Mrs Mulenga has also urge the Government, through the Executive, to implement some of the proposed recommendations in the said report to avert violent and tribal politics.
“No amount of comparison that other people have done the same things, can justify what happened at Lutanda Radio Station because TWO WRONGS DO NOT MAKE A RIGHT! NGOCC is of the view that while we may differ in political ideology, we must remain united in the true spirit of the founding fathers that promoted the “One Zambia, One Nation” motto”, she added.
Mrs Mulenga has since commended the Independent Broadcasting Authority for withdrawing the license for Lutanda Radio Station and also take this opportunity to caution the media against promoting politicians and other people that want to divide the nation on tribal lines.
She has also appealed to Zambians to reject any political party, or individuals that will promote such unprogressive politics.
“We wish to reiterate that our politics should be based on issues and should be about competition to serve the underserved Zambians, especially the women and children”, she added.
