President Edgar Lungu says the Zambia South Africa Business (ZSBC) council will no doubt complement government efforts in promoting trade and investment between the two countries.

Mr. Lungu has however urged South African investors to take advantage of the investment opportunities in Zambia by investing in various economic sectors which offer a favourable rate of return for their investments.

ZANIS reports that President Lungu said government remains committed to creating an enabling business environment aimed at attracting foreign direct investment and stimulating local investment through linkages with small and medium enterprises.

The Head of State said this in a speech read on his behalf by Vice President Inonge Wina at the official launch of the Zambia South Africa Business Council (ZSBC) Zambia Chapter in Lusaka last night.

The Zambia South Africa Business Council was established in October 2015 as an innovation of the Zambian High Commission in Pretoria to promote investment and trade between the two countries and to advocate quick resolution of disputes and barriers.

Mr. Lungu expressed hope that through the business council, trade volumes between the two countries will increase even more in a mutually beneficial way with the anticipated inclusion of more local entrepreneurs in various economic value chains.

He however emphasized on the need to ensure that more local entrepreneurs are given an opportunity to participate in the economic value chains in Zambia by designing appropriate capacity building interventions.

Meanwhile, Acting South Africa High Commission to Zambia Nontombi Makupula said there is need to cope with the changing global trend of strengthening bilateral relations not only politically but economically in order to improve the living conditions of the people.

Ms. Makupula praised Zambia for being an all-weather trading partner of South Africa and pledged for continued efforts aimed at fostering inclusive economic growth between the two countries.

Former Auditor General Anna Chifungula has warned that Zambia will soon become a Highly Indebted Poor Country again if appropriate measures are not enforced to prioritise public expenditure.

In an interview, Dr Chifungula who retired last December said Zambia’s debt levels are increasing at an alarming rate increasing chances of sliding back into the HIPC category.

She said with reduced revenue collection, it is imperative that controlling officers strengthen their over sight roles in order to protect the limited available resources.

Dr Chifungula cautioned controlling officers to resist the temptations of abusing public resources especially in this political campaign season.

He said controlling officers are sometimes under pressure to dip their hands into public coffers by politicians during election campaigns.

Dr Chifungula said Zambia’s limited resources must be apportioned for programmes that will improve the wellbeing of the people.

THE Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) is shocked to learn of the low crop commodity prices being offered by outgrower companies for crops such as cotton, tobacco and maize.

CSPR- Advocacy and Communication Programme Coordinator Maxson Nkhoma said in a statement yesterday that the prices being offered by most outgrower companies were not cost reflective and were likely to exploit many farmers as farmers were buying farming inputs at very high prices last year owing to the depreciation of the kwacha.

Mr Nkhoma said it was unreasonable and irrational for out grower companies to still buy crops at the same prices they were buying last year.

“What is most shocking is that all out grower companies buying cotton are offering the same buying price of K 2.80 per kg(kilogramme) as though all companies are going to sale the commodity to same company abroad when in fact not,” he said.

He said CSPR regards this to be a serious abnormally and an act of unfair trading practices being orchestrated by cotton out grower companies meant to exploit the farming community and rob farmers of their hard earned money.

He said CSPR was disappointment that despite out grower companies engaging in unfair trading practices, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission(CCPC) has been watching out grower companies engage in broad day light robbery of farmers.

He called on CCPC to immediately investigate and bring to book cartels that have been formed in the agriculture sector with a purpose of fixing prices that disadvantages the farmers from realizing profit out of their crops.

“CCPC must know that they have a legal mandate to protect farmers from being victims of unfair trading practices,”he said.

Mr Nkhoma has since given CCPC a seven day ultimatum to address the farming community by price fixing done by the cartels.

AFRICAN Development Bank (AfDB) Board of Governors chairperson Alexander Chikwanda has called for more actions to implement various resolutions from delegates who attended the just-ended bank’s annual meetings in Lusaka.

President Edgar Lungu on Tuesday officially opened the AfDB annual meetings attended by Rwandese President Paul Kagame, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta and Idriss Deby of Chad, who is also the African Union (AU) chairperson.

Mr Chikwanda, who is Finance minister, said there was need for the delegates drawn from various parts of the African continent and beyond to put in place more actions and continue to work together.

“There is need for us to put more actions and continue to work together,” Mr Chikwanda said.

He was speaking in Lusaka during a colourful AfDB annual meetings cultural gala night held at Government Complex on Thursday evening and attended by scores of delegates.

Mr Chikwanda commended the delegates for turning up in large numbers to attend the annual meetings and subsequently the cultural gala night.

Stanbic Bank Zambia managing director Charles Mudiwa, whose banking institution sponsored the gala night, said culture was important as it brought together people from different backgrounds to share cultural ideas.

He said the banking institution would remain committed to partnering with many countries to offer financial services for investment in various sectors of the economy.

Mr Mudiwa said Stanbic Bank was committed to supporting the exchange of cultural ideas and finding more solutions to economic challenges facing many African countries.

AfDB President Akinwuni Adesina was among the delegates that watched various cultural dances drawn from various parts of the county.

And AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina has assured the Africa that the institution will strive to implement all its strategies aimed at alleviating poverty on the continent.

Meanwhile, Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda yesterday officially closed the 2016 annual AfDB meetings in Lusaka.

Dr Adesina said his institution was committed to ensuring that its goal of the ‘High fives’, which is part of the AfDB 10-year strategy, was implemented for the benefit of people on the continent.

He said this at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka yesterday at the closing Press briefing of the 2016 annual meetings.

The AfDB ‘High fives’ have been classified as ‘light up and power Africa’, ‘feed Africa’, ‘integrate Africa’, ‘industrialise Africa’ and ‘improve the quality of life for the people of Africa’.

“I do not want to see Africa end up as a museum of poverty because the continent has a lot of untapped potential to alleviate its people from the bondage of poverty.

“We agreed (during the just-ended meetings) that Africa lacks the technology and the financing to adopt renewable energy exclusively in the short-term, but that the bank will lead the way in encouraging renewable energy,” Dr Adesina said.

Meanwhile, Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe said there was need to strengthen investment and economic ties for Africa to achieve her desired growth.

Ms Mwanakatwe said the potential for strengthened investment and economic ties among African countries could be enhanced through meaningful contribution to growth and development of the continent.

She said this in a speech read for her by Commerce, Trade and Industry Deputy Minister Raymond Mpundu during the official opening of the Zambia Investment Forum on the sidelines of the just-ended AfDB annual meetings in Lusaka.

The Investment Forum, aimed at showcasing Zambia’s investment opportunities in various sectors of the economy, was held under the theme ‘Investing in renewable energy for economic growth, job creation and a cleaner environment’.

“This forum is a suitable platform for both emerging and established companies to interact with various financiers, business developers and potential business partners,” Ms Mwanakatwe said.

The minister said the Government would continue to implement positive and forward-looking investment and economic policies to foster economic development.

She urged local and foreign investors to take advantage of Zambia’s conducive investment environment by investing in various sectors of the economy, particularly energy.

The 2016 AfDB annual meetings held under the theme ‘Energy and climate change’ were officially closed by Mr Chikwanda, who is chairperson of the AfDB Board of Governors’.