EDITOR’s Note

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The World Bank (WB) has observed that the cost of doing business and various structural inefficiencies have affected Zambia’s economy, making it difficulty to grow above the 6 percent threshold.

World Bank Vice President for Africa, Ezwekwesili Obiageli said there are significant administrative and structural weaknesses affecting the way to do business in Zambia.

In her keynote speech at the official opening of the National indaba in Lusaka today, Ms Ezekwesili said the communications sector has remained among the most expensive in the world.

She further said the energy sector, on the other hand remains highly inefficient with the bulk of the money generated by ZESCO tilted towards supporting wages.

The World Bank Vice President for Africa also said human capital has remained underdeveloped and under-utilized.

Ms. Ezwekwesili said the agriculture sector has continued to lag behind despite its great potential to contribute significantly to the growth of the wealth of the country.

She said government has been emphasizing more on fertiliser provision and subsidies without attending to other critical aspects to support peasant farmers such as investment in infrastructure development and establishment of an open market system for the disposal of the farmers’ produce.

Ms. Ezwekwesili further said investors in this sector have had to contend with the poor inputs distribution system, high cost of production, high interest rates, unpredictable markets and pricing as well as inadequate extension service officers to support the rural farmers whose production standards are not cost efficient and competitive.

She said the sector was not sufficiently diversified to help the rural farmers can take advantage of the global demand for various products.

Ms. Ezwekwesili added that the rural electrification programme has still not met minimum benchmarks to attract large scale investments in rural areas, thereby making it difficult for business people in rural areas to adopt new technologies as part of their investments.

She said citizens with sufficient capital resources in urban areas have resisted investing in agriculture because the sector does not offer meaningful value for money.

She pointed out that even commercial farmers with the potential to maximize the economies of scale have struggled to break through, due to problems they face, ranging from sourcing inputs to accessing markets, which have remained highly inefficient and expensive.

She added that most farmers are failing to service their loans with commercial banks and advised government support the sector which she described as important to the sustained growth of the country’s economy.

She said it is now time to institute bold structural changes at micro-economic level because government has lately shown tremendous goodwill towards private sector initiatives.

ZANIS/AJN/PK/ENDS

VICE-President George Kunda says government is reviewing the process of accessing the Citizenship Economic Empowerment Fund (CEEF).

And the Vice-President said it was saddening and unfortunate if there were people that were trying to shun the national indaba.

Speaking when he made a stop over at Livingstone International Airport from Western Province where he had gone to check on the flood situation, Mr Kunda said government was aware of the difficulties many people faced in accessing the CEEF funds.

”We know there are some difficulties in accessing the CEEF funds and where there are difficulties, we are reviewing those conditions,” he said.

Mr Kunda said he had gone to Western Province not only to check on the flood situation but also to sensitise people on the importance of accessing the CEEF fund.

He said the fund was available to the citizens to enable them contribute to the development of the country as well as to enable them contribute to wealth creation as the only way of alleviating poverty.

The Vice-President also said the traditional rulers in Western Province were ready to work with government in eliminating poverty.

Mr Kunda said the ruling MMD will concentrate on delivering to the Zambian people instead of engaging in petty politics.

And Mr Kunda said the MMD was ready to go to the national indaba adding that it was saddening and unfortunate if there were people trying to shun the indaba.

”Ourselves we are ready to go to the indaba and find solutions to the global economic crisis. We have been devastated by floods and we need schools and clinics,” he said.

He said there was very little time to develop the country and noted that government was doing a lot hence the need for government officials to get to people and explain to them what developmental programmes government had put in place for people.

The Vice-President who was accompanied by Agriculture Minister Brian Chituwo said government wants to alleviate poverty by attracting investors to the country.

And Mr Kunda also said government was working at reviewing the Fertiliser Support Programme (FSP) in order to make it more effective and benefit more people.

Speaking earlier, Southern Province MMD Chairman Solomon Muzyamba condemned those that had decided to shun the national indaba.

Mr Muzyamba said it was a well known fact that even powerful economies world over were meeting with a view to come out of the mes.

He described those who have decided to shun the indaba as armchair critics who were unpatriotic but were calling themselves as leaders.

Mr Muzyamba said it was unfortunate that when called upon, such leaders decided to shy away from important meeting were they are given an opportunity to contribute.

He called on those that were patriotic enough to come out and share ideas with government at the indaba.

”The world over, governments are consulting and the MMD has come up with the indaba which is a good thing. The indaba is aimed at finding a way out of the miseries affecting the people of Zambia and it is a shame that armchair critics have decided to stay away from the indaba,” he said.

ZANIS/ENDS/FM/EB

The church has advised opposition Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND) to rescind their decisions to shun the National Indaba this weekend.

The Christian Faith Mission Centre (CFMC) said the two political parties and any other opposition party contemplating to boycott should rescind their decision since the national indaba was crucial in resolving problems afflicting the country.

CFMC Pastor-In-Charge Peter Chanda says there is need for all stakeholders with diverse views to attend the national indaba in order to help government address the various problems facing the country.

Pastor Chanda told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that it was not a right thing by the opposition political leaders to think of shunning this weekend’s national indaba as the dialogue was critical to fostering economic development in the country.

He said political leaders should stop politicking and instead concentrate in helping government to address problems associated with the global economic crunch.

Pastor Chanda further advised the opposition political leaders to show political maturity by attending the national indaba which he said was aimed at discussing pertinent issues that will add value to the development of the nation.

Government has called for a national indaba with various stakeholders to discuss various proposals and submissions aimed at resolving the economic impact on the global financial melt-down.

But yesterday the PF and UPND announced their boycott of the indaba set for this weekend.

PF president Michael Sata and UPND president Hakainde Hichilemena confirmed their parties will not be part of the national indaba to be held at Mulungushi International Conference Centre

And the Southern African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Dispute (SACCORD) says it is regrettable that the two main opposition political parties, Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND) have pulled out from the national indaba.

SACCORD Executive Director Lee Habasonda told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that the PF and UPND have been eluded of an opportunity to offer solution to the problems in the country.

Mr. Habasonda said the two political parties are key players in the country who would have helped the country find solutions the country is going through relating to the global economic crisis and others.

He said the decision by the two political parties to pull out from the indaba is regrettable adding that SACCORD would have hoped that the two parties participate.

Mr. Habasonda however advised government to be careful with the selection of the people to attend such indaba’s saying there is need for diversity.

He said the criteria used for choosing the people to be attending the indaba need to be transparent and inclusive to allow different people offer their solutions.

Meanwhile Zambia Centre for Inter-Party Dialogue (ZCIPD) said it is justified for the PF and UPND to pull out of the indaba because they did not have enough time to prepare and get views from their members.

ZCIPD Spokesperson Langton Sichone said he will not blame the two parties for shunning the indaba saying they where caught unaware and it was going to be difficulty for them to effectively contribute at the indaba.

Mr. Sichone said the participants to the indaba would have been given a month or two before the indaba to allow them do some research and decide on what to say.

He however said the indaba is a good course by the government as it meant to find solutions to the problems the country is facing urging all citizens to support the idea.

ZANIS/GP/ENDS/MM

Some Patriotic Front (PF) youths have called on the party president to step down.

Mandevu Constituency Chairperson Frank Lombe said the PF youths in the area are demanding that Mr Sata should step down within 30 days.

Mr Lombe said the PF youths are calling for a new president because Mr. Sata is undemocratic and will never lead the party to power.

The youth chairperson said Mr. Sata is an enemy of transparency adding that the ways he uses to bring money from donors are questionable.

He henceforth called on auditors to audit party account for PF.

And the PF youths said they were in support of ‘the rebel’ PF MPs who recently won an injunction to be expelled from the opposition party.

Mr. Lombe said case of the 30 rebel Member of Parliament who were expelled from the party should not be dropped as they were doing the right thing by attending the NCC.

They have also advised President Rupiah Banda not to exchange words in the media directly but through State House Secretary for Press and Public Relations Dickson Jere who he said has vast experience with the media.

Mr. Lombe said this when he addressed the media in Lusaka today.

ZANIS/AC/IS/ENDS/MM.

Acting Secretary to Cabinet Robert Mataka has called on political parties and other invited stakeholders not to boycott this weekend’s National Indaba which will focus on mitigating the impact of the global economic meltdown.

Mr. Mataka says there is need for all invited stakeholders to attend the National Indaba as it will focus on the key sector of the economy with the aim to generating solutions to the problems affecting the country.

He said in a statement released to ZANIS in Lusaka today that government was ready to listen seriously to various submissions and proposals aimed at resolving the economic impact arising from the global economic crunch.

Mr. Mataka cited agriculture, tourism, mining, energy, financial, infrastructure development and manufacturing and entrepreneurship as among the key sectors that the Indaba will effectively focus on.

He said the National Indaba will also focus on the economic challenges that the country was facing arising from the global financial and economic meltdown, the response to the crisis as well as recommendations on short, medium and long term solutions that the country can use to mitigate the effects of the crisis.

Mr. Mataka further said that registration for participants will take place from 2nd to 3rd April, 2009 respectively from 09:00hrs to 22:00hrs at Long Acres Lodge.

He said government will only meet expenses for lunch and refreshments during the Indaba.

ZANIS/TK/ENDS/MM