MORE than US$400 million from the US$1.25 billion Eurobond has been allocated for the improvement of road infrastructure countrywide, Parliament has heard.

Finance Deputy Minister Christopher Mvunga said the money would be channelled towards improving urban and rural roads.

Mr Mvunga was responding to UPND Milambo Member of Parliament (MP) Austin Milambo, who wanted to know which projects would be financed using the bond which was issued this year.

“The major allocations include $410.7 million for the improvement of road infrastructure, including rural roads,” Mr Mvunga said.

He said $268 million had been set aside for domestic debt swap and clearance while $40 million would be spent on the maintenance of canals and procurement of maritime equipment.

Mr Mvunga said $45.2 million and $20.3 million had been allocated towards infrastructure development in the education and health sectors, respectively.

“A total of $20 million has been allocated for water and sanitation projects. Other allocations include; $45.2 million for citizens and youth empowerment and $21 million and $15 million for the agriculture sector and on-lending to state-owned enterprises, respectively,” he said.

Mr Mvunga said the balance of the fund had been earmarked as part of financing for the 2016 National Budget.

On repayment, Mr Mvunga stated that the bond was structured to be redeemed in three equal instalments of US$416.7 million in July 2025, the same amount in July 2026 and July 2027.

“To ensure that Government does not default, a sinking fund shall be established in line with the requirements of the loans and guarantees authorisation Act Cap 66 to accumulate money to be used for the repayment of bonds at maturity,” he said.

Similar sinking funds have already been established through the issuance of Statutory Instrument (SI) 75 of 2015, to facilitate the repayment of the $750 million and $1 billion bonds which were issued in 2013 and 2014 respectively.

 

Egg Fried Rice

Sometimes budgeting and busyness can really put a dampener on how interesting we make our food.  In fact they have a direct impact on how much we experiment in the kitchen. When we are on a tight budget we are more likely to buy the same old ‘safe’ and cheap ingredients to make the same old ‘safe’ meals that we always have.  Similarly when we don’t have time to spare, we are likely to fall back on those very same ‘safe’ meals.  But that doesn’t have to be the case – take rice for example, there are so many ways to spice up your rice….literally.  So today I am going to show you just that – what to do with your left over plain rice to make it more interesting.  By simply changing your cooking method and a few ingredients you can literally create a completely new dish. – Exotic and delicious oriental Egg fried rice.  Because egg fried rice is so awesome it can be eaten with any meaty dish or completely on its own; and there are no limits to the veggies that you can mix with it.  So, don’t be afraid to throw in a few extra veggies, and make sure the family are getting their ‘5 a day’.

Whilst your family and friends sit there, admire your cooking skills, and liken you to Gordon Ramsey; we both know that you made this tasty and inspired dish essentially from 5 ingredients and yesterdays leftover rice….but I won’t tell if you don’t…it’s our little secret.

Preparation & cooking time: 20 – 30 minutes

Serves 4 people

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 200g  long-grain rice (uncooked weight), cooked and left
• 100g  frozen peas, defrosted (rinse under warm water to defrost)
• 4 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1-2 tsp soy sauce
• 2 pieces of bacon, roughly chopped (optional)
• 1 small red pepper, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 2 large eggs
• 1 heaped tsp mixed spice (optional)
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground sea salt

Method

Always make sure that your left over rice is stored correctly i.e. in an air tight container and in the fridge.

If you are not using left over rice, cook your rice as normal by; boiling hot water and salt in a pot.  Pour in your rice once the water begins to boil vigorously, stir once and reduce the heat to let the rice boil more steadily.  For stickier rice, boil with the pot uncovered, without stirring.

Fill a separate pot with water, bring to the boil; boil your peas for 2 minutes and drain.

Heat the vegetable oil in a wok, or wide pan and stir-fry the bacon for 3-4 minutes until crisp. Tip in the red pepper, spring onions and the garlic cloves and stir-fry for 2 more minutes.  Add the rice,  fry for another 3-4 minutes, followed by the peas until the mixture is completely heated; season well with soy sauce, salt, pepper or mixed spice.  Now push the rice mixture to one side of the pan.

Beat the eggs, pour them into the other side of the pan, and leave for about 10 seconds so they begin to set. Using a chopstick or fork briskly swirl the egg around to break it up and then toss around with the rice. Stir-fry for a further minute and serve straight away.

Serving

Serve your rice whilst it’s still steaming hot.  You can serve it with a side of beef or chicken stew; but it goes down just as well, if not better on its own.

To serve this as a vegetarian dish, simply forgo the bacon.

 

Kanta Temba is a cake maker and decorator. She is also the owner and founder of Kanta Kakes – cake shop.

You can find her work on www.kantakakes.com.  Follow her on twitter @KantaKakes and Instagram @KantaTemba.

 

 

 

 

Zambia will this year showcase its designing styles by participating in African Fashion design event in Paris, France.

According to a statement released to media yesterday by the African Fashion Reception, the event will take place on November 21st 2015 at the prestigious and historic Venue-Salle Wagram.

More than 30 African countries and media houses will be present at the event.

During the event, Zambia will have a runway showcase and exhibition pavilion where the exhibitors will promote their fashion, life style products and touristic potentials to the world.

The African Fashion Reception is organized by Africa’s foremost fashion promotion company, Legendary Gold Limited in collaboration with the Africa Union and the Nigerian Embassy.

IT is wrong to insinuate that the Zambian economy has collapsed as there is no way it can breakdown when it still has great unexploited potential for economic growth, says Bank of Zambia (BoZ) governor Denny Kalyalya.

Dr Kalyalya said in an interview that the Zambian economy would only collapse if nothing was done to exploit the available potential in different economic sectors.

He said it was impossible for the economy to collapse when the country was still recording economic growth even if it was slow.

“Those who are speaking positively about the economy should continue being optimistic because this economy has not collapsed; we are still talking of growth and, yes, it’s low growth but it is growth nonetheless,” Dr Kalyalya said.

He said there were unexploited potential in economic sectors such as agriculture and energy which when exploited would bring about economic growth.

“But I think there are still opportunities within what is happening; we still have unexploited areas when we talk of agriculture, agro- industry.

“And we have to go beyond maize in agriculture; there are other things such as livestock and fisheries, all these are areas where Zambians can do a lot better,” Dr Kalyalya said.

He said Zambia boasts of having 40 percent of the water in the sub-Saharan region and yet it was not being utilized in the energy sector.

Dr Kalyalya said Zambia had to learn from other countries which depended on one river and yet they were performing a lot better in the energy sector because they exploited the available opportunities.

“Talk of energy, we boast of having 40 percent of the water resources. There are countries depending on one river and they are doing a lot better, why? So I think we can take lessons from that.

“What I am saying is that the economy will collapse if we all do not do anything about it but I can assure you that with these challenges, a lot better can come out of it but we have to seize those opportunities,” he said.

Dr Kalyalya said there was need to be fully focused and apply the knowledge on the many opportunities Zambia had to grow the economy.

He was optimistic that something better could come out of the current economic challenges.

Meanwhile, Dr Kalyalya said BoZ was aware of shopping malls which were charging customers in the United States dollars and that the central bank would soon visit them to understand their reasons because their actions were not helping banks’ efforts to stabalise the kwacha.

He said the actions by some people who charged in dollars contributed to the depreciation of the kwacha.

“We will pay those colleagues a visit to understand why they are doing that because they should also help us to bring that stability because if we become stable, there will be no need for that.
‘‘This is not helping the efforts to get the stability that we are looking for in the economy.

“I can assure you that if tomorrow the kwacha appreciated they will dump (the dollar) again and go back to the other side. You can’t always be on the winning side, so please this is a matter which is important to the economy,” he said.

MMD National Youth Secretary Bowman Lusambo says he is still a committed member of the former ruling party contrary to perceptions that he has divided loyalty between the MMD and the PF.

Mr Lusambo said the statements he has been issuing in the media in support of President Edgar Lungu stem from the fact that Zambia can only have one President who deserves support.

He said he is still a member of the MMD of good standing and pledged his support to MMD leader Dr Nevers Mumba.

Mr Lusambo who has also declared his intentions of contesting the vacant party Vice Presidency said President Lungu deserves commendation whenever he does something good.
‘In the same token, he deserves to be condemned if he implements wrong policies. These are the checks and balances we have been providing and we will continue.’
Mr Lusambo was speaking when he featured on the Assignment television programme on Muvi TV last Sunday.

He also revealed that late President Michael Sata offered him a job in an attempt to silence him.

‘I have never asked for a job from President Lungu, infact late President Sata is the one who offered me a job shortly after the 2011 election but i refused to take it. I practice politics of principles.’

‘There is no way the youths of MMD could abandon our project, Dr Mumba is our project, we started campaigning for Dr Mumba whilst he was still in Canada and we ensured that he became President and we cannot just abandon him like that,’ Mr Lusambo said.

Mr Lusambo said people have not forgotten the role that the MMD Die Hard movement which he leads played in stabilising the MMD.

‘Post 2011, the MMD was in shambles and as patriotic youths in the MMD, we had to step in and helped to stabilise the party.’

He also appealed to the youths in Zambia to engage themselves in active politics.

Mr Lusambo who is vying for the Kabushi parliamentary seat in Ndola said time has come for young people to venture into politics.

‘The time when young people were used for throwing stones is long gone. Our engagement in the political arena has to be more valuable than that and that time is now,’ he said.
He also explained that he has decided to run for the Kabushi seat after several appeals from the residents of Kabushi.

‘I am not imposing myself on the people of Kabushi, i am just heeding to their cries. They feel the current and past MPs have failed them and they have decided to deposit their trust for improved service delivery on me and i will not let them down,’ Mr Lusambo said.

Fourth Revolution President Erick Chanda has described the move by the Central Bank to raise the policy rate to 15.5% from 12.5% as murderous.

On Tuesday the Bank of Zambia announced a rise in the base lending rate from 12.5% to 15.5% in an effort to curb the inflation that has spiraled. The current inflation rate is 14.3% year on year.

Mr. Chanda said it is very clear in the minds of the Zambian people that the PF came to destroy the country’s economy once and for all.Mr. Chanda said that the move by the Bank of Zambia to raise the policy rate to 15.5% from 12.5% in an effort to curb soaring inflation which hit double digits in October is a wrong resolution.

[pullquote]I don’t see Zambians voting on load shedding, I don’t see Zambians voting on mine closures, I don’t see Zambians voting for high mealie meal prices[/pullquote]
‘This policy measure, as much as it is aimed at arresting inflation will only go to hurt the poor people because companies will increase prices to pay back the loans or close shop,’ he said.

Mr.Chanda charged that the PF will not rule Zambia beyond 2016 because of its loss in popularity.He said the social and economic challenges the PF has brought since 2011 will make it difficult for Zambians to give them fresh mandate.

Mr.Chanda said PF leaders are now blinded by power and are now enjoying and failing to see the misery they have caused.

‘I don’t see Zambians voting on load shedding, I don’t see Zambians voting on mine closures, I don’t see Zambians voting for high mealie meal prices, so the only way for the PF is to go out in 2016’ Mr Chanda said.