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Next generation operator champions ICTs increased role in economic development in line with CSO recent findings
According to Vodafone Zambia, the information and communications technology (ICT) sector continues to offer unprecedented opportunities for economic growth and development for Zambia, and these services are an essential part of how the nation’s economy works and functions.
The comments come in light of recent revelations from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) that in 2016, Zambia’s ICT sector was the fastest growing sector at 40.2 per cent accounting for 1.2 per cent of the nation’s total GDP for the period.
Company CEO, Lars Stork said: “ICT has become a key priority of the 21st Century. The CSO’s findings validate the sector’s transformative power as an enabler for economic growth, making it an essential tool for empowering people and triggering positive change in society. As a company that operates in the ICT space, Vodafone Zambia recognises this and is working towards being an integral part of Zambia’s growth story through its next generation data services.”
Globally, the economic impact made by the ICT sector over the past several decades, with its significant contributions to gross domestic product (GDP) and its fuelling of innovative industries, has been massive.
According to CSO Director John Kalumbi the Zambian economy expanded by 4% to $6.4 billion with ICT being the fastest growing sector at 40.2 per cent making up 1.2 per cent of the total growth rate number. The Central Statistics Office – CSO is now able to compute GDP projections on a quarterly basis.
The large part of the industrial area flooded
Perennial flash floods have again hit Lusaka, the capital city after three days of heavy rains into the new year.
The worst hit areas were the Central Business District, the Light and Heavy Industrial areas including some compounds and townships in close proximity to the CBD.
The situation worsened on Tuesday when afternoon rains blocked the drainage system leading to an overspill on the key roads in most areas of the city.
Most residents were caught unprepared for the floods and found themselves stuck in the middle of heavy pools of water as the floods wreaked havoc.
Smaller vehicles were also stuck and some makeshift houses in Chibolya and parts of Kanyama could not stand the weight of the floods and collapsed.
Some of the affected residents have appealed to the Lusaka City Council to speed up works on the construction of a new drainage system before the situation worsens.
At the start of December, the Zambia Meteorological Department had warned that Lusaka, Central, Western and Southern provinces will experience heavy rains coupled with flash floods in the early parts of January.
The department also forecast that during the same period the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) which was the main rain bringing system would be oscillating about the southern borders of Zambia thereby increasing rainfall and showery activities across the country.Part of the industrial area flooded
And Lusaka Mayor Wilson Kalumba says the flooding was due to heavy rains the city has been experiencing.
Mr Kalumba said it is important to appreciate the fact that Lusaka city is situated on a flat plateau with mild slopes as low as 0.2% which makes most areas of the city experience extensive flooding during the rainy season.
“Besides the low topography Lusaka also has a very high water table in certain areas and this is determined by the geology of the City which is constituted by highly impermeable limestone which gets quickly saturated by water during the rainy season,” Mr Kalumba explained.
“However the perennial floods the city has been experiencing over the years have been exacerbated by either poorly maintained drainage infrastructure or none existent of the facility especially in places that started as informal settlements. On the other hand the CBD which constitutes underground drainage system no longer has the capacity to operate efficiently and effectively due to the increase in infrastructure development and also indiscriminate disposal of waste.”
He added, The Meteorological department has adequately advised that this year the country is likely to receive normal to above-normal rainfall for most of the period from October to December 2016 and January to March 2017.”
Mr Kalumba said in trying to mitigate the expected impacts of this heavy rainfall, Lusaka City Council has moved in and started working on the most flood prone areas within the city.
Chandwe Musonda road in Villa Elizabetha flooded
He revealed that the Council has purchased a second Pressure Jet at an approximate K1, 000,000 to help with the underground CBD drains.
“The council through its Roads and Drainage Section under the Department of Engineering Services has started working on opening up some drains within Kabwata constituency. Road works and drain openings are also being done in Kanyama constituency through the assistance of Zambia National Service equipment,” he said.
He added, “Some drainage works are also underway in Chawama Constituency through the performance contractor.
Plans are underway to mobilise into Munali Constituency starting with Kaunda Square and Mtendere.”
He said the Council has further engaged Road Development Agency to ensure that the contractor working on the L400 roads moves on site to work on the side drains on the newly paved roads which had resulted into floods with the first rains.
Mr Kalumba said the Contractor (AVIC International) has since mobilised and is currently working along Dr. Aggrey road in Kabwata.
“Works on the Bombay and Mazyopa Drainage system being implemented through the Millennium Challenge Account have continued smoothly and once fully completed will greatly reduce the floods in a lot of areas in Lusaka.
Further to this, the local authority has engaged Polytechnology, a Chinese company that has shown interest in working on the other remaining primary outfalls as well as the CBD.”
The Lusaka Mayor said the council through Ministry of Local Government intends to sign an MOU with the company to execute an Engineering Procurement and Construction (EPC) contract.
Mr Kalumba further disclosed that the Council has also started receiving technical assistance in Drainage and Municipal Waste Management by Seureca, a company engaged by Millennium Challenge Account Zambia.
“Residents should also realise that proper solid waste management is very significant in mitigation against flooding. If waste is not properly managed, it will find itself in the drainage channels and the result of this is, is that drains will be blocked and the free flow of water will be affected thereby causing flooding and stagnation of water,” he said.
Lusaka Mayor Wilson Kalumba inspecting some drainage works in Lusaka last month
Manda Hill Police Post
A group of four white men ganged up against a defenceless male Zambian beating him up to pulp after an altercation at Horse Shoe restaurant in Lusaka.
The unidentified white men beat up the Zambian only identified as Eamon mercilessly after they differed over parking space at the restaurant on New Year’s eve.
Some eyewitnesses narrated that the incident started after the white men reversed in front of the victim’s car and scratched his vehicle.
The victim was offered a mere K300 to go and have it painted which he turned down saying there is nowhere he could pay K300 for car painting services.
At this point, the white guys convinced Eamon to jump into their car so that they could go and discuss away from the crowded car park.
And Eamon confirmed that the white men ganged up inside the car and started beating him up and ended up disfiguring his face.
“They told me to get the K300 and used racial remarks and that I can report anywhere in Zambia and nothing will happen to them,” Eamon narrated.
Eamon and his friends however later managed to apprehend one of the white men and dragged him to Manda Hill police post where he was detained.
But to his shock when he went back to Manda Hill police post, Eamon discovered that the white man who was in detention in the early hours on New year day which was a Sunday had been released as his friends paid bond for him.
Eamon is now demanding justice and wondered how a suspect could be released from custody on a Sunday when the Officer-In-Charge was off duty.
He says he can identify one of the assailants who was taken to the police if asked to.
Efforts to get a comment from Police and management at the Horse Shoe were futile by the time of publishing the article.
Horse Shoe Restaurant has been in the news over the past few weeks following reports of alleged racism and ill treatment of workers by management official who are believed to be Coloured Zambians.
FILE: Kitwe Mayor Christopher Kangombe and Visting Shunyi District People’s Government of Beijing Municipality Senior Advisor Wang Gang posing for a picture with some delegation members during their visit to KitweThe figures for 2015 for the Tourism Statistical Digest that are out and reveal interesting facts about out budding sector.
The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) reported that tourists travelling the world in 2015 had increased to 1,184 million, reflecting a 4.4 percent growth compared to 2014 that stood at 1,134 million tourists. By region, Europe, the Americas and Asia and the Pacific all recorded around 5 percent growth while arrivals to the Middle East increased by 1.6 percent and Africa recorded an estimated decline of 2.9 percent.
Africa recorded approximately 53 million tourist arrival from the total of 1,184 million arrivals traveling the world representing 4.5 percent of the total arrival.
Zambia recorded a total of 931,782 international tourists arrivals in 2015 compared to 946,969 tourists in 2014 resulting in a decline of 1.6 percent. Out of the 53.3 million international tourists’ arrivals to Africa, Zambia received only 1.7 percent of the total tourists’ arrivals in Africa.
Business tourists were dominant under the purpose of visit category, contributing 54 percent and holiday/leisure was second at 25 percent. However, these categories had a high number of tourist arrivals, there was a decline for leisure/holiday tourist from 249,501 in 2014 to 235,235 in 2015 representing a decrease of 5.7 percent and business tourists reduced from 506,054 tourists in 2014 to 499,584 in 2015 which translated to 1.3 percent decline. On the other hand, there was an increase in conference arrivals from 21,013 in 2014 to 22,902 in 2015 representing an increase of 9 percent.
By gender, the total number of tourist arrivals comprised 548,431 males and 383,351 females, representing 59 percent and 41 percent respectively.
From Africa, Zambia recorded 710,062 tourists’ arrivals accounting for 76.2 percent of total international tourist arrivals followed by Europe which contributed 88,554 tourists representing 9.5 percent. Americas contributed 5.3 percent of the total arrivals. Asia contributed 7.7 percent whilst Australia contributed 1.3 percent to the total arrivals
The major mode of transport used by tourists was by road representing 70.1 percent and the least was water representing 0.3 percent.
The top ten(10) overseas holiday markets for 2015 were United States of America (38,496), United Kingdom (36,997), India (25,517), China (20,648), Australia (10,193), Japan (8,742), Germany (8,025), Canada (6,310), France (4,861) and Italy (4,165). African top ten(10) holiday markets included Zimbabwe (225,527) ranked first and Mozambique (8,242) in tenth position.
The total number of tourist visits to the five (5) national parks inclusive of Lusaka Park was 101, 972. Comparatively of the four major national parks namely South Luangwa, Kafue, Lower Zambezi and Mosi-oa-Tunya; tourist visits still increased from 81, 962 in 2014 to 88,707 in 2015 representing 8.2 percent increase when adjusted without Lusaka Park figures. South Luangwa National Park had the highest number of tourists at 43, 653 while Lower Zambezi National Park recorded the least tourists at 9,011.
The Victoria Falls, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and Zambia’s flagship tourism product, recorded 141,929 tourists compared to 152,798 tourists in 2014, representing a drop of 7.7 percent. International tourists dropped from 45,303 in 2014 to 29,575 in 2015 representing a decline of 34.7 percent while domestic tourists increased from 108,487 in 2014 to 112,354 in 2015 representing an increase of 3.6 percent.
The total number of tourists that visited the national museums in 2014 was 82,943 compared to 90,351 in 2015 representing an increase of 8.9 percent. Domestic tourists accounted for 90 percent of the total visitors to the museums while international tourists accounted for 10 percent.
During the year under review, the total number of rooms available was 43,119 as compared to 42,932 in 2014, representing an increase of 0.4 percent. The 2015 national annual average room occupancy rate increased from 61.9 percent in 2014 to 69.8 percent in 2015 while the national annual average bed occupancy rate during the year under review was 71.4 percent compared 72.2 percent in 2014. The increase in room occupancy rate could be attributed to increase in domestic tourism activities and Meeting Incentives Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE). The average length of stay reduced to four (4) days in 2015 as compared to five and half days (5.5) days in 2014.
The number of people employed in the hospitality industry during the year under review was 57,384 compared 57,003 in 2014 recording an increase of 0.7 percent. Southern Province recorded a high number of employees accounting for 22,872 employees in the hospitality industry while Northern Province had the least record of employees at 836.
The annual tourism earnings increased from K3, 945,710,713.08 in 2014 to K4, 408, 160,075.42 in 2015 representing an increase of 11.38 percent. However, the annual tourism earning, when converted to the United States Dollars dropped by 34.9% from US$616 million in 2014 to US$ 401 million in 2015. The reduction in earnings is mainly attributed to the depreciation of the kwacha against the US dollars.
Accommodation establishments’ earnings for 2015 were ZMW 4,003,943,049.62 compared to ZMW 3,653,232,709.51 in 2014 representing an increase of 9.6 percent.
GOVERNMENT has said 75 buses meant for the youth empowerment programme would be in the country this year once everything had been done.
Youth, Sport and Child Development Minister Moses Mawere said when he paid a courtesy call on Eastern Province Minister Makebi Zulu in his office in Chipata yesterday that the Government was committed to youth empowerment.
He said this was because the youth possess a wide variety of talents that the Government was nurturing and developing for their benefit.
Mr Mawere said this would help the youth to identify, cultivate and positively utilize their talents once empowered.
“We are expecting 75 buses for the empowerment of the youth not only in the provinces across the country but even in some districts. As a Government we want to exploit these talents to ensure that they benefit the youth economically,” he said.
Mr Mawere who is accompanied by Chief Sport Development Officer Raphael Mulenga said Government would continue setting aside funds for the benefits of the youth empowerment programme.
He explained that his ministry had come up with another empowerment programme of tricycle motoralised which would assist the young people to travel from one place to another without facing any challenge.
Mr Mawere also appealed to the provincial minister to help find land for the youth resettlement scheme.
He said once the land was found, Government would empower the young people so as to enable them engage in decent and honest income generating ventures.
And Mr Zulu said he was happy that Government programmes in the province were going on well.
He said he was also happy that district agricultural coordinators and extension officers were monitoring any effects of army worms in the province adding that the pesticides have already been distributed.
Mr Zulu said there was need to extend the youth empowerment fund to all districts in the province stating that youth had the potential to foster tangible developments once empowered.
The Youth Minister was currently in the province to meet various groupings among them traditional leadership, party officials and beneficiaries of the buses.
Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya (left) with Livingstone Central Correctional Service Pharmacy Technologist Moses Kapenda (right) during the inspection of Livingstone Central Correctional Service mini Hospital in LivingstoneGOVERNMENT has said that the latest survey has shown a reduction in the HIV infection rate from 41,072 to 41,000.
Health Minister Chitalu Chilufya said that is commendable but more efforts needed to be done to completely reduce the HIV infection rate.
Dr Chilufya said there was need to equip people with information on HIV so that they make appropriate decisions to protect themselves from diseases.
He said programmes like prevention of mother to child HIV transmission should be escalated to ensure that there was zero HIV infection rate.
“We should not relax when it comes to TB and HIV and AIDS; Zambia has shown a down ward trend in the incidence of new HIV infections. In 2009 we had 41,072 cases while in the latest survey new infections have gone down to 41,000, that is commendable but not enough,” he said.
Dr Chilufya said Zambia must move on from having programmes on prevention to elimination of HIV.
He said the move would help protect the future generation and that the hope for the future HIV free generation was in an effective prevention of mother to child transmission.
Dr Chilufya said there was need to strategically state intentions by focusing on elimination of HIV transmission from mother to child.
He said among other key messages to disseminate to the public, every pregnant woman in the country should know their status and that those who are HIV positive must be put on Anti-Retrol Treatment (ART).
Dr Chilufya also said that concerted efforts were being done to eliminate malaria in the country.
GOVERNMENT has observed that the pilfering of medicines and other supplies has lessened following the formation of a taskforce in 2011.
Ministry of Health spokesperson Kennedy Malama said although the vice had not been eradicated entirely, pilfering had somewhat been addressed.
Dr Malama said in an interview at the weekend that Government spent colossal sums of money to procure the drugs and medical supplies thus it was only prudent that safeguard measures were put in place to prevent drug thefts.
“We came up with this taskforce to ensure that we prevent or we mitigate these losses of medicines and medical supplies in the supply chain management and I think over the years this taskforce has scored
a lot of successes.
“I think we can point out that generally we have seen that there has been a reduction in terms of losses which can be prevented in the supply chain management, of course not completely eradicated, but I
think better than it used to be in the past,” he said.
Dr Malama said the taskforce had been very proactive as it carried out its own investigations and not entirely depending on reports, adding that it was able to track the commodities from procurement, storage and distribution.
Dr Malama said because of the taskforce, some people had been prosecuted after being caught selling Government branded drugs in private health facilities, among other areas.
“As a ministry we will not relent, we will continue being alert with our stakeholders to ensure that we protect these medicines and supplies,” he said.
Dr Malama said systems would continue being strengthened at Medical Stores Limited and other health facilities.
He has since appealed to Government medical officers and the general public to remain vigilant and report pilfering to relevant authorities.
The taskforce comprises the Ministry of Health, Zambia Medicines Regulatory Authority and Zambia Police, among other stakeholders.
THE Zambia Union of Financial Institutions and Allied Workers (ZUFIAW) has urged financial institutions to consider lowering the interest rates this year following a drastic drop in inflation rate.
The inflation has in the last six months dropped from more than 20 per cent to the current 7.5 per cent.
The current interest rate which varies from bank to bank is between 35 and 40 per cent.
ZUFIUW president Ackim Mweemba said in an interview that there was no moral justification for banks to continue with the high interest rates when the inflation rate had drastically dropped.
He said that it was unfair for Zambian workers and firms to borrow money from financial institution with a high interest rate when inflation rate was in single digit.
“The year 2017 should be a different year, we want workers and companies to enjoy the benefit of the drop in the inflation rate. We want them to borrow money at an affordable rate to enable them invest it in the economy, so it is immoral for banks to charge high interest rates,” he said.
Mr Mweemba said 2016 was a tough year for financial institution because Government failed to meet its obligation of paying suppliers of goods and services who borrowed money from banks.
He urged Government to consider paying off arrears to contractors and suppliers of goods and services in full to enable them pay back their loans.
He said that suppliers of goods and services were important in driving the economic growth of the country hence the need for them to be paid all their arrears.
File:Members of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Danish Parliament and officials from their Zambian embassy at the KCM open pit operations from the top of the 300-tonne dump truck at the Chingola Open Pit mine on their recent tour to Konkola Copper Mines.THE government’s revenue from the mining industry dropped to K9.07 billion in 2015 from K9.94 billion recorded in 2014 due to low copper earnings.
This is according to the latest Zambia Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (ZEITI) report for 2015.
ZEITI head Siforiano Banda said the reduction in mining revenue of K0.87 billion represents about nine per cent.
The report indicates that the reduction in revenue was attributed to low copper earnings in 2015 which were 31.3 per cent lower than those reported in 2014.
It further states that the average realised copper price in 2015 declined by 23 per cent, largely reflecting the slowdown in global demand for commodities particularly by China.
Mr Banda said in terms of the taxes, the company income tax reduced from K1.55 billion in 2014 to K0.83 billion in 2015.
The mineral royalty tax increased from K1.82 billion in 2014 to K3.63 billion in 2015.
The report shows a reduction in import value added tax (VAT) from K1.99 billion in 2014 to K1.20 billion in 2015.
Pay as you earn (PAYE) increased from K1.43 billion to K1.54 billion.
“In terms of mineral production, copper production increased from 708,259 tonnes in 2014 to 710,860 tonnes in 2015,” Mr Banda said.
Gold production reduced from 5,417 kilogram (kg) in 2014 to 4,241 kg in 2015 In the year under review, Emeralds posted an increase in production from a low of 6,253 kg in 2014 to 36,019 kg in 2015.
Coal production reduced from 159,151 tonnes in 2014 to 103,439 tonnes in 2015.
The report indicated that Zambia was still dependent on mining as its major productive industry.
The contribution of the mining sector to exports reduced from 76 per cent in 2014 to 1.06 per cent in 2015.
Mines Minister Mr. Christopher YalumaSMALL and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) on the Copperbelt should take advantage of various Government economic interventions to run mining ventures, Mines and Mineral Development Minister Christopher Yaluma has said.
The Ministry of Mines will start guaranteeing mining projects to increase participations of Zambians in the running of mines which is dominated by foreign players.
Minister of Finance Felix Mutati announced in the 2017 budget speech that Government had sourced $50 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) to fund SME projects.
Mr Yaluma said SMEs should take advantage of mining credit guarantees as well as the $50 million SME fund to venture into mining.
“The Government would like to see Zambians running mines even at the small scale. We have a pool of mining engineers who should come together and run mining operations and this is the reason Government wants to start guaranteeing viable projects,” Mr Yaluma said in an interview in Chingola.
He said banks have not responded to the needs of small scale miners hence the intervention by Government.
He challenged local people to get mining licences and where they fail seek joint ventures with their foreign counterparts.
“The past administration had showed a blind eye in terms of giving mining licences to locals but what we are saying as Government is bygones are bygones let’s forge ahead,”Mr Yaluma said.
He said Zambians should move away from just thinking about getting employment but start creating employment by taking advantage of the massive opportunities in the mining sector.
Mr Yaluma said Government would continue facilitating business linkages between mining houses and local suppliers as well as contractors.
“We are committed to ensuring that locals reap more benefits from the mines by strengthening business linkages between the mines and local enterprises as evidenced by the review of the 1995 Mines and Mineral Development Act.
“This culminated into the coming in of the 2013 Act which insists on local preference in terms of procurement of goods and services by the mines,” he said.
Commissioner General Kingsley ChandaTHE Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) has commenced investigations to establish whether imported petroleum products from South Africa qualify for preferential treatment under the various trade protocols.
Currently the authority is withholding tax on imported petroleum products coming from South Africa of between K40 million and K50 million per month.
ZRA commissioner General Kingsley Chanda said investigations have commenced which would determine whether imported petroleum products qualify for preferential trade protocols or not.
Mr Chanda said despite Zambia being a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern African Development Community (SADC), petroleum products were imported from Saudi Arabia and Kuwait into South Africa and later transported into Zambia.
He said Zambia had no trade agreements with either Saudi Arabia or Kuwait hence the authority had a right to impose duty on imported petroleum products.
Mr Chanda said this in an interview with journalists in Lusaka last week.
“As you are aware, Zambia is a member of SADC and COMESA and under these trade agreements if goods are wholly produced within the region they are allowed to enter Zambia duty free.
“There is another condition under these agreements if goods have been partially produced within the region and the local content amounts to 35 per cent…again those goods qualify for preferential treatment and no duty is collected,” Mr Chanda said.
As for the case of petroleum products, Mr Chanda said most of the petroleum products coming out of South Africa were in fact imported into South Africa from the middle-East.
“Now we do not have any trade agreements with Saudi Arabia or Kuwait so all countries within the SADC region have a right to collect duty as deposit pending an investigation.
“If you have noticed we had a lot of importation of petroleum products from South Africa which according to the importers qualify under the SADC trade protocol but our information is that they do not actually qualify.
“We are going through a process of investigating, a process of establishing whether indeed they qualify and if the do we shall refund the duties that we are withholding at the moment. If they don’t qualify we will convert those duties into final tax,” Mr Chanda said.
Army Worms attacking maize plantTHREE boxes containing 30 liters of chemicals meant for spraying against army worms on the Copperbelt have been stolen, acting Agriculture Minister Michael Katambo has confirmed, describing the act as sabotage.
The consignment arrived in Ndola yesterday for onward distribution to the affected farmers.
Mr Katambo said the missing chemicals could have catered for around 60 hectares of land for at least 120 households, and called for the arrest of the culprits.
Copperbelt has received 5,195 liters of four different chemicals meant to kill the army worms, which have ravaged the crops in the province.
The minister said when he handed over the chemicals to Copperbelt Minister Bowman Lusambo it was unfortunate that people resorted to stealing chemicals meant for the farmers and that the situation happened on the Copperbelt, which was the most hit.
He said President Edgar Lungu was working tirelessly to ensure that there was eradication of the army worms and that the situation was sad.
“It is unfortunate that we have received a report of theft of three boxes of chemicals which would have helped to eradicate army worms. We want the chemicals to reach the intended farmers; we are spending sleepless nights to ensure that the chemicals reach our farmers. There is too much sabotaging in this project. This is a
calamity that is before us and we need the efforts from all stakeholders and not stealing,” he said.
Copperbelt Police Commissioner Charity Katanga said the driver who brought the consignment from Lusaka should make a formal report to the police.
Ms Katanga assured that police would investigate the matter and bring to book the culprits.
“Make a formal report of the theft and value and the batch number, we will zero in on the officers on duty and the driver of the truck and we will cast our net wider. For this one we are going to investigate and we will furnish you with all the information,” she said.
Ms Katanga suggested that once there was a consignment coming to the Copperbelt, police should be informed in order to deploy more officers to guard the property.
She said this would help the police to enforce and pay special attention to the property.
Mr Lusambo said such acts should not be tolerated in the province and that police should work hard and bring to book the culprits.
The Copperbelt has so far received more than 7,000 liters of chemicals to eradicate the army worms.
The province received 589 liters of the chemicals in the first consignment, 2,000 liters in the second batch and 5,195 in the third, bringing the total to 7,780 liters.
Provincial agriculture officer Obvious Kabinda said looking at the extent of the damage to crops, the chemicals received so far would go a long way in helping the farmers eliminate the pests.
Dr Kabinda was happy that what had been received so far was adequate and that the province was still conducting investigations.
He said the latest update on the extent of damage showed that about 15,093 hectares of land had been invaded, and the chemicals received would be adequate.
FILE: World Bank Country Manager for Zambia Ms. Ina Ruthenberg with Mr MutatiZambia will next month hold a High Level Regional Investment Conference to mobilise resources for the Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Power Scheme which is estimated to cost US$ 6 Billion and produce 2, 400 Mega Watts to be shared equally between Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Zambia’s Finance Minister Felix Mutati has disclosed that among the speakers at the Batoka Regional Investment Conference will be The President of The African Development Bank, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina. In May, 2016, Zambia hosted the 51st ADB Annual Meetings whose Theme was “Climate Change and Energy.”
According to the statement released to the media by Head of Public relations at the Ministry of Finance, Chileshe Kandeta, the conference will also attract Multilateral Development Financial Institutions (DFI’s), Bilateral Cooperating Partners and Local, Regional and Multinational Private Sector Organisations – with a view of marketing the financing requirements of the Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Power Scheme through the Independent Power Producer Arrangement (IPPA).
Mr. Mutati recently attended the 34th session of the Zambezi River Authority Council of Ministers Meeting in Victoria Falls Town, Zimbabwe, where the Council considered a report by the Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Power Scheme transaction advisors, Ernst and Young, and mapped out a strategy on project development. The council comprises Ministers responsible Finance and Energy from Zambia and Zimbabwe.
“During the construction phase, 6,000 jobs will be created and a further 1,200 permanent green jobs during the operational phase, split equally between both countries,” Mr. Mutati has said.
The Zambian Minister of Finance has said, upon completion, “the project will significantly increase base load power exports to the regional Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) energy generation mix,” adding that, “it will also help address the power crisis by reducing load shedding and spurring additional investment in industrial development in the region.”
Mr. Mutati affirmed that “the model being adopted will ensure that Batoka produces the cheapest power in Africa and so we are excited to get it going especially that the sovereign budgets of the two partner countries will not be affected since the project will be financed by the international market.”
Meanwhile Zambia’s Energy Minister David Mabumba has said the Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Power Scheme is key to regional integration and an important component of the diversification and industrialisation drive which the Zambian Government has embarked upon.
“To ensure that we increase our power pool for future uses and export, there is need for the Zambezi River Authority to think outside the box and explore solar and geo-thermo options for power generation,” commented Mr. Mabumba.
And Zimbabwean Minister of Finance and Economic Development Patrick Chinamasa has expressed festive gratitude at the relations between Zambia and Zimbabwe, adding that, “feasibility studies for the project are now over so it is now time to step-up resource mobilisation for the Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Power Scheme.”
“In the case of Kariba, we have found the money and rehabilitation of both the dam and the spillway will soon commence,” assured Mr. Chinamasa.
The Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Power Scheme construction phase is expected to commence in 2017/2018 under an arrangement between Zambezi River Authority [co-owned by Zambia and Zimbabwe] and international financiers. The Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Power Scheme is expected to increase power generation capacity for Zambia and Zimbabwe by a sum of 2,400 Mega Watts.
The site of the Batoka Gorge Hydro Power Scheme is located across the Zambezi River on the international boundary between the sovereign states of Zambia and Zimbabwe, 54 Kilometers downstream of the Victoria Falls. The existing Kariba Dam Hydro Electric Power Station is located upstream on the second largest man-made lake in the world, Kariba, and produces 1, 470 Mega Watts.
To ensure smooth PREPARATORY WORKS, the World Bank administered multi-donor trust fund for Co-operation International Waters in Africa in 2016 allocated finances to the project through a grant of US$6 Million. The development of the project is in three phases. Part one involves updating engineering feasibility studies, carrying out of environmental impact assessment studies, and addressing institutional legal aspects of the project. Phase two comprises resource mobilisation and tendering while phase three will involve financing support works related to construction and commissioning.
The proposed scheme includes a 181- meter high dam, radial gated crest type spillway, and two underground power stations located in each country with installed capacity of 1, 200 Mega Watts EACH [Zambian side and Zimbabwean side].
FILE: A Zambia National Dance Troupe likishi performing to local and foreign tourists at Maramba Cultural village in Livingstone
Zambia again failed to meet its annual target of attracting 1 million tourist arrivals in 2015
This is according to figures contained in the 2015 Tourism Statistical Digest released by the he United Nations World Tourism Organisations (UNWTO).
Zambia recorded a total of 931,782 international tourist arrivals in 2015 compared to 946,969 tourists in 2014 resulting in a decline of 1.6 percent.
Out of the 53.3 million international tourists’ arrivals to Africa, Zambia received only 1.7 percent of the total tourists’ arrivals in Africa.
Business tourists dominated the arrivals contributing 54 percent while holiday and leisure travelers were second at 25 percent.
There was a marked reduction decline for leisure and holiday tourism from 249,501 in 2014 to 235,235 in 2015 representing a decrease of 5.7 percent.
Business tourist arrivals also reduced from 506,054 tourists in 2014 to 499,584 in 2015 which translated to 1.3 percent decline.
However, there was an increase in conference arrivals from 21,013 in 2014 to 22,902 in 2015 representing an increase of 9 percent.
The total number of tourist visits to the five national parks inclusive of Lusaka Park was 101, 972.
South Luangwa National Park had the highest number of tourists at 43, 653 while Lower Zambezi National Park recorded the least tourists at 9,011.
The Victoria Falls, which is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and Zambia’s flagship tourism product, recorded 141,929 tourists compared to 152,798 tourists in 2014, representing a drop of 7.7 percent.
During the year under review, the total number of rooms available was 43,119 as compared to 42,932 in 2014, representing an increase of 0.4 percent.
The 2015 national annual average room occupancy rate increased from 61.9 percent in 2014 to 69.8 percent in 2015 while the national annual average bed occupancy rate during the year under review was 71.4 percent compared 72.2 percent in 2014.
The increase in room occupancy rate could be attributed to increase in domestic tourism activities and Meeting Incentives Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE).
The average length of stay reduced to four days in 2015 as compared to five and half days in 2014.
The number of people employed in the hospitality industry during the year under review was 57,384 compared 57,003 in 2014 recording an increase of 0.7 percent.
Southern Province recorded a high number of employees accounting for 22,872 employees in the hospitality industry while Northern Province had the least record of employees at 836.
The annual tourism earnings increased from K3, 945,710,713.08 in 2014 to K4, 408, 160,075.42 in 2015 representing an increase of 11.38 percent.
However, the annual tourism earning, when converted to the United States Dollars dropped by 34.9% from US$616 million in 2014 to US$ 401 million in 2015.
Zambia Police Spokesperson Esther Mwata Katongo
Police have finally arrested a Kafue DJ identified Chishimba Chibemba alias DJ Chichi for assaulting Nagad Saad aged 32 of Kafue.
Nagad was assaulted by Chishimba aged 26 of Nangongwe compound in Kafue at a drinking place called Gambinos on 25th June, 2016.
The video of the incident went viral and attracted public outcry on social media.
Chishimba who has been on the run was apprehended from Madido area in Lusaka’s Chelstone after a tip off from members of the public.
Police Spokesperson Esther Mwaata Katongo said Chishimba been charged with Assault Occasioning Actual Bodily Harm and will appear in court soon and is currently detained in police custody.
