Minister of Transport and Logistics Frank Tayali has said Zambia’s central geographic location in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region has presented an opportunity for the country to be exposed to multiple import and export Trade and Transport Corridors.

Mr. Tayali is attending the 2023 World Bank Group-International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C., USA.

The Minister participated in an in-person event on “Unlocking Financing Opportunities and Development Potential of Key Corridors in Africa”.

He said the transport corridors that Zambia has among them; Dar-es-Salaam Corridor linking the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia’s Copperbelt Province, the North South Corridor linking Durban with DRC/Zambia via Zimbabwe and Botswana with a spur into Malawi via Harare, the Lobito Corridor connecting Zambia to the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Republic of Angola to the Port of Lobito on the Atlantic Ocean for Western import and export markets in the United States of America and Europe.

“The Nacala Corridor linking Zambia and Malawi to the Nacala Part in Mozambiaque which is one of the deepest port in SADC; The Beira Corridor linking large parts of Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Mozambique to the port of Beira on the Indian Ocean; and the Walvis Bay Ndola Lubumbashi Development Corridor (WBNLDC) links the Port of Walvis Bay with Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zimbabwe.This route links Zambia to strategic outlet to export markets and offers a key route to the sea port on the Atlantic Ocean linking the mining companies on the Copperbelt and Northwestern Provinces of Zambia to the Western markets in the United States of America and Europe,” he said.

“Economic and transport corridors are critical for the development of nations. This is especially the case for land locked countries that need to access inputs for production or regional and global markets.”

He further told the meeting that countries need to start engaging to actualize the benefits of the corridors.

He said in this regard, President Hakainde Hichilema has continued to promote economic diplomacy for the benefit of the people.

“Countries need to start engaging more and more. For Zambia, President Hichilema has continued to promote economic diplomacy. During his last visit to Mozambique, the two countries announced that they will start having direct flights from Mozambique to Lusaka, Zambia. This is what we need. We need to actualize these corridors,” he said.

Mr. Tayali said there is a need to unlock the capital needed to realize the full development potential of key corridors as important trade routes for both economic growth and food security in Southern Africa.

According to First Secretary Press and Public Relations at the Embassy of the Republic of Zambia in Washington, D.C., USA, Charles Tembo, Mr Tayali joined on the panel with Ministers from the Kingdom of Lesotho, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Ndola Central Member of Parliament is representing Zambia at the 2023 World Bank Group- International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, DC. The Minister successfully participated in an in-person event on “Unlocking Financing Opportunities and Development Potential of Key Corridors in Southern Africa”.

The Corridors connect several landlocked countries to important gateway ports. They encompass road and rail networks, as well as maritime and inland water ports, and are important trade routes for fuel, minerals and metals, chemicals, food products, and consumer goods.

According to experts, several studies have shown that there remains significant scope to improve the infrastructure along the corridors and policies to increase their efficiency to fully realise their development potential.

Former Lusaka Archbishop Telesphore George Mpundu has said the current mealie meal shortage that has hit the country is a sign of failure on the part of the New Dawn Government.

Featuring on Hot FM’s Hot Seat Show on Thursday morning, Archbishop Mpundu said the Government must ensure that it quickly makes mealie meal available and affordable.

The candid senior clergy questioned why the Government allowed the export of maize without consulting experts in the field especially the farming community.

Archbishop Mpundu said it does not make sense for the Government to now allow the importation of mealie meal after exporting maize earlier.

He warned that mealie meal shortages made the UNIP Government unpopular and contributed to its downfall.

“Exporting maize and now resorting to importing mealie meal, does not make sense (laughs), I am not insulting anyone. You are saying does it make sense, it makes no sense. In the first place my brother, this country is very rich, with land, natural resources and a lot of water. I think we sold maize elsewhere because we had a bumper harvest. We are talking about consultation. Where was consultation when selling maize outside the country? Where was the consultation especially from the farming community on how to preserve the commodity which is so precious to our people? If there was consultation that maize would have been still there feeding us. Even this morning I was looking at my phone, there was this lady in Mokambo; she was saying we come here at 05:00 in the morning on the line just to get a bit of mealie meal. It never happened in the time of bananikane ba PF. It never happened but we can remember the time of Kenneth Kaunda. Now, the time when food riots began with the Copperbelt, coming this direction is the time UNIP started going down and it never came up because food is life,” Archbishop Mpundu said.

He said Government officials should not dictate the type of food the people wanted to eat.

“If food is not there then those we elected to lead us are failing miserably. My brother (presenter) you have a wife and children and you can’t feed them. I mean it is a nightmare situation. Little brats crying, they are so little just looking at the mother and father, are these people normal? There is no food. It is failure number one if you don’t feed your people, the food is not available or when it is not affordable then you have failed. There are no two ways about it. We have repeated this issue time and again about the French revolution because people were hungry. The potato crop had gone bad, the wheat crop had been attacked and there was no food for two seasons. Don’t you remember the Queen saying if you can’t afford breakfast mealie meal why not buy roller meal but then at one time even roller meal was not there or too expensive? What about kandolo (sweet potatoes)? Really? Eat kandolo, I nearly said if there is no kandolo because kondolo is not cheap, you can try grass. Now people know what they want especially in terms of food,” Archbishop Mpundu continued.

“It is up to those we have elected to lead us to provide this food and that the food is affordable and available. If you don’t you have failed so right now we can say it is failure. Now they say they are planning to import something from outside again. Can you see that? We had plenty then we sold it out now we have bought it back at a higher price. What kind of behaviour is this? People are not amused but worse it is that hungry people are hungry people no two ways about it. Our political leadership let them look at the faces of people, their long faces. People are sending children to school on empty stomachs. They have to be fetched from school, there is no fuel. Let them do something and do it yesterday, as soon as possible,” he said.

Meanwhile, President Hakainde Hichilema this week said the Government has put up measures to improve the mealie meal situation.

“In response to the mealie meal shortage affecting certain regions of the country, we have convened multiple consultative meetings with both government and private sector officials at a high level. We acknowledge the seriousness of the current situation, particularly with the shortage of the commodity in some neighbouring countries. An emergency response has been activated to address this specific situation. We anticipate that the measures implemented will improve the situation and we will closely monitor developments on the ground. It is our appeal to the citizens to uphold the interventions implemented by the government and maintain lawful and orderly conduct,” President Hichilema wrote on his facebook page.

Zambia’s government has requested the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to refrain from penalizing the country if its debt restructuring plans don’t go as expected. The appeal was made as the country may not be able to sign an MOU with official creditors in time for the expected disbursement of US$188 million from the IMF. A Staff-Level Agreement has been reached between the IMF and Zambia on economic policies to conclude the first review of the Extended Credit Facility.

Zambia is currently facing a debt crisis, with an external debt burden of approximately US$12 billion. The country’s debt servicing costs have soared, causing a significant strain on its finances, and the country has struggled to access credit from international markets. In response to this crisis, the IMF approved a 38-month Extended Credit Facility (ECF) of US$1.3 billion to help stabilize Zambia’s economy.

As part of the ECF program, Zambia was required to undertake a series of economic reforms, including measures to control its public debt, reduce its fiscal deficit, and promote growth. The first review of the program was due to take place in June 2020, but it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The review was eventually concluded last week, and the IMF announced that it had reached a Staff-Level Agreement with Zambia on economic policies.

The agreement paves the way for the disbursement of US$188 million to Zambia, subject to the completion of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the country’s official creditors. However, the government has expressed concerns that it may not be able to sign the MOU in time for the disbursement. If this happens, Zambia could face a penalty from the IMF, which would exacerbate the country’s already dire financial situation.

In light of these concerns, Zambia’s Minister of Finance, Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane, has appealed to the IMF not to penalize Zambia if the debt restructuring plans don’t go as expected. Musokotwane has emphasized that the government is committed to implementing the economic reforms required under the ECF program, but the country’s debt crisis is complex and will take time to resolve fully.

The IMF has not yet responded to the government’s appeal, but it has previously indicated that it is willing to work with Zambia to address its debt crisis. In a statement last year, the IMF said that it was “committed to supporting Zambia’s efforts to address its macroeconomic challenges and reduce its debt vulnerabilities.”

The IMF’s support is crucial for Zambia, as it will help the country to access financing from other international institutions and markets. However, the government must also take decisive action to address the root causes of the country’s debt crisis, including improving the efficiency of its public finances, boosting revenue generation, and promoting private sector investment.

Emeralds And Semi-Precious Stones Mining Association of Zambia (ESMAZ) President Victor Kalesha has appealed to government to ensure that it puts measures that will increase production in the gemstone sub-sector next year.

Speaking in an interview in Kitwe yesterday in response to Minister of Finance Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane’s call for submissions for the 2024 National Budget, Mr Victor Kalesha said government should empower gemstone small scale miners with basic mining equipment so that they all go into full production.

He noted that inclusion of incentives such as exemption of import tax on some mining equipment and financial empowerment in the national budget would help small scale miners increase their production.

He noted that in last year’s budget the government provided some incentives for gemstones value addition but stated that incentives for increased production should come before those for value addition.

“We feel that in the next budget government should consider empowering the areas of production because we cannot go into value addition before we enhance production, so just as it is in the agriculture sector where they give inputs and machinery sometimes, we also need basic equipment so that we can go into good production, many artisanal miners are able to produce more if well equipped with,” Mr. Kalesha said.

He noted that doing so will also help increase government revenue collection from the sector.

He has since encouraged stakeholders from all sectors of the economy to make submissions towards the budget so that the country can have a balanced budget that reflects the needs of all sectors.

And Economist Kelvin Chisanga said some stakeholders may find it difficult to make submissions because of the continued uncertainty in the mining sector and the debt restructuring process.

Mr Chisanga said it will also be difficult for government to work out and run a good national budget with the uncertainties in the debt restructuring process and the delayed unlocking of some major mining companies.

“The longer the debt restructuring process takes, the worse the country’s economic performance will be, however, the general macro-economic environment is looking good and will in due time produce desired growth,” he said.

This week, Minister of Finance and National Planning Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane called for stakeholders to start submitting proposals towards the 2024 National Budget.