The African Union (AU) says it is uncomfortable with over regulation of farmers in Africa and how they are compelled to conduct business when selling  their produce.

AU Vice President Erastus Mwencha has bemoaned that farming was over-controlled by most African governments which dictated conditions on under which farmers trade, saying this denied them opportunities to get the real value for the produce.

“When there is surplus of maize, farmers are allowed to export and when there is little, they are not allowed, as the AU we are not comfortable with over-controlling of farmers because they are the ones who suffer when they get a raw deal,” he said.

He called on governments that over regulated farmers to allow them to engage in viable business ventures without any interference which would negatively affect profit margins for farmers.

Mr. Mwencha said this in an interview with ZANIS in Livingstone during a reception organized by the AU Peace and Security Council Retreat at Zambezi Sun hotel.

Meanwhile, the AU Vice President attributed the rising global food prices to a decline in production, high cost of agricultural inputs and reduced investment in agriculture.

He however said challenges arising due to high food prices could be addressed through comprehensive implementation of policies in land and water management, nutrition, technology and provision of fertilizer subsidies to boost production.

“We have a comprehensive agricultural development program referred to as the four pillars formulated to address and implement policies in land and water management, nutrition, technology and provision of fertilizer subsidies to boost production,” he said.

He said such measures would play a significant role in ensuring food security in countries most affected by low production and limited investment in agriculture.

And Mr. Mwencha said infrastructure development was key to sustainable economic development for the African continent because all sectors that made meaningful contributions to positive development depended on availability of good infrastructure.

Kitwe Town Clerk Ali Simwinga has disclosed that Government has secured a loan of 4.5 Million United States Dollars to support the operations of the Nkana Water and Sanitation project.

Mr. Simwinga said in an interview after a full council meeting in Kitwe today that the money which has come from the African Development Bank (ADB) will be used to improve the delivery of water and sanitation services to all the areas under Nkana water and Sewerage Company.

He said the project will address five major components in Kitwe, Kalulushi and Chambishi. He said the components to be addressed were the water supply works, sewerage works and project management.

Mr Simwinga said others were the sanitation, hygiene promotion and education as well as institutional support to Nkana water and sewerage company.

He noted that for this project to succeed their was need for effective and close coordination between and amongst all key stakeholders.

Mr Simwinga called on the council to enter into a memorandum of understanding with the two Towns Kalulushi and Chambishi that are supposed to benefit from the project.

He said the project will run from January 2009 to December 2012. The three towns are faced with a big challenge of providing quality and safe drinking water in most townships.

ENDS/LK/PK/ZANIS.

This year in October the Debt, Aid and Trade Programme of the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) commended the government for sticking to its debt management objective of raising adequate levels of financing at minimum cost and risk. At that same time, the Zambian Government contracted a new loan of US$8 million from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) for the rehabilitation of feeder roads in the Copperbelt Province.

Hardly two months later, Government has again signed a US$24 million credit facility with the African Development Bank (AfDB). This loan is a concessional one – meaning that it is payable at low interest and over a long period of time – for budgetary support for 2009 and 2010. This loan also comes less than a year after Government committed itself to a credit facility of US$6 million with OPEC for the rehabilitation of 40 feeder roads on the Copperbelt.

“It is important to recognise that borrowing in itself does not amount to poor economic management or luck of sound development strategy. More so if it is a concessional loan. But what is of concern to JCTR, particularly in the Zambian context is the institutional arrangement under which that borrowing is taking place and the intention of that borrowing,” observes Privilege Haang’andu Programme Officer for Debt at the JCTR.

It is clear that the bad state of roads, especially in the agricultural parts of our country, is a major setback to the development of the agricultural industry in Zambia and therefore may need financing to improve them. In this time of rising food prices (maize), no greater need could be perceived than that of focusing on the improvement of the road infrastructure in order to promote agricultural productivity.

As has been said severally, the prospective economic future of this country largely depends on concrete transformation of its incredible agricultural potentials.

Although borrowing may not be avoided, it is fundamental and a matter of great urgency that Zambia puts in place a Debt Management Framework to guide her practices of loan contraction and the management of the borrowed resources. The pre-HIPC experience of reduced investment resources is still fresh to the Zambian people and any continued borrowing under the current laws has the potential to take the country back to those pre-HIPC experiences.

It is important that Zambia moves into a situation where borrowing happens within a sound institutional and policy framework that will provide proper guidance as to the need for borrowing and the timeframe within which the borrowed resources are applied to avoid incurring unnecessary additional costs.

The JCTR would like therefore to remind the new Government, particularly the Minister of Finance and National Planning of the promise that was made by his predecessor to look into reforms of the debt laws. The Government cannot keep promising without acting, the debt stock is quickly swelling, with current estimates putting it at over US$2 billion. The JCTR and collaborators, continues to call upon Government to FINISH THE WORK it promised to the Zambian people by making sure a Debt Bill that will cushion Zambia from a possible debt trap is enacted.

For more information contact:
Debt, Aid and Trade Programme, Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection
P.O. Box 37774, Lusaka, Zambia: Tel: +260 211 290410
Fax: +260 211 290759, Email: [email protected] Website: www.jctr.org.zm

SCORES of clients who applied for loans under the Copperbelt Youth Forum (CYF) micro-finance facility are demanding refunds of the down payments they made after failing to access the funds for close to 12 months.

When contacted for a comment the fund’s national coordinator, Alex Mutale said his organisation was genuine and had no intentions of swindling its clients.

“Our aim is to empower Zambians and we have so far spent K2.4 billion which was accessed by 500 people from different parts of the country. Those doubting us are free to engage the police to investigate us because we have nothing to hide,” Mr Mutale said.

He said his organisation was working in collaboration with the ministry of Youth Sport and Child Development, which was providing the much needed moral support.

The clients have, however, appealed to the Inspector General of police to launch investigations into the activities of the organisation.

The applicants from seven provinces applied for loans, whose amounts ranged from K5million and K50 million under a countywide youth driven micro-finance facility.

Loan applicants were compelled to pay 10 per cent of the loan amount as security fee and another down payment of eight per cent of the loan amount for administrative costs.

The affected people who include youths, widows and some rural farmers said in separate interviews that they had been swindled through the down payments that they paid as part of the condition to access the loans.

Loyce Tembo, who made a down payment of K1.8 million with the hope of accessing a K10 million loan in April said she was on a number of occasions told that her application was successful and that money was deposited in her account but there was nothing after she checked.

“I was later issued with a cheque which bounced and they told me that I will be put on the list of the next group to be paid but up to now I am still waiting to access the loan,” Ms Tembo said.

Nelly Phiri, who has over the last five months been frequenting CYF offices in Ndola said the youth, widows and other underprivileged people who struggled to raise the 10 per cent of the loan amount as down payment would not rest until they got refunds.

“Instead of assisting us they are now contributing to worsening our situation by holding on to our hard earned cash. The authorities should do something to compel these people to do what they promised the people after getting the down payments,” Ms Phiri said.

Manfred Mulyunga, a farmer from Mukonchi area in Kabwe said hundreds of disappointed beneficiaries who applied for loans since February now wanted refunds of the down payments that they made.
Mr Malyunga said the Government should intervene and ensure that desperate people were not swindled.
[Times of Zambia]

THE anticipated reduction in the pump price of fuel, which was expected this month, is likely to delay because the reserve facilities in Zambia are still filled with fuel imported by Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), the Government has said.

Energy and Water Development Minister, Kenneth Konga said in an interview that the country had a lot of fuel, which was imported by the OMCs and cheaper crude oil whose ship recently docked in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, could not be pumped to Zambia.

The fuel pump prices are expected to be reduced because the crude oil was bought at a cost of US$53 million compared to the last consignment’s $85 million following the fall in international crude oil prices.

Mr Konga said TAZAMA Pipelines would only start pumping the crude oil into the Zambian facilities once the current stocks had finished.

“The crude oil is still in our storage facilities in Dar-es-Salaam because we are waiting to finish the current stocks in Zambia. This is because the OMCs imported a lot of fuel which has led to surplus,” he said.

The minister said the Government did not put a limit to the quantity of finished products that the OMCs were supposed to import and that this had led to surplus.

[Times of Zambia]

(Repeat)

By Son Mumbi

The recent copper boom has been short lived. From about 2005 when there was massive reinvestment in the mines and speculation of more, the Copperbelt and Lusaka saw a proliferation of all manner of mine suppliers- Robin Hood copper recyclers (stealing from the mines dump to sell to ‘venture capitalists’).There was a boom in trade with Dubai, China, Dar es Salaam.We saw an increase in  property investment, transport and prostitution (Solwezi notably).  And boy did it boom! A check on the social spots of the Copperbelt town of Kitwe and one was likely to meet all manner or businessmen and a few businesswomen.

There were excursions across the border into Congo and into the new wild west of Zambia, North Western Province to get villagers to dig for copper using crude tools and haul 50kg bags of ore on the backs. Stories of copper truck hijacks became the norm. The Chinese where the villains of the show. While a not too close look revealed that other country nationals were the villains also, namely  Australians, South Africans and Zambians  too! Pot-bellied Zambians and Afrikaners with attractive mistresses to swing
around the town with sleek 4 by 4’s.They lounged around the popular night spots with very attractive mistresses, who if times had really been good, might have been walking the cat walk. Well that is all coming to an end!

My advice to all local mine suppliers, transporters, copper labour exploiters, start farming now. The good times are coming to an end. A global economic depression is inevitable. Forget about joining an NGO and stealing aid money for a ‘poverty’ project, there will be no money for Africa from the West.Not with increasing poverty levels in America and Europe; they will look to their own first. Forget migration, it will only get harder for you to get in, you won’t get past the British Embassy.

Local businessman, with the loot you have left from copper ‘gains’ invest in a low energy consuming tractor to help you cultivate the land, not  the new set of shiny wheels you have been contemplating. Do not grow maize, fertilizer subsidies only come during election period. Grow sweet potatoes,groundnuts and soybeans. Practice plant rotation, yes you remember it from secondary school production unit.Plant indigenous trees, keep hardy chickens. Avoid goats and large herds of cattle, they overgraze, but you might want to keep a few pigs, they are not picky about what they eat. To avoid energy problems, go solar, forget about that diesel generator you were planning to buy in Dubai.

And lastly, if you are going to have multiple partners, marry them under traditional polygamous arrangements, and stick to those that you do marry. Be open about it, sly sneakiness won’t do you any good when things are falling apart. Besides, honesty is the best way to get the co-operation of your wives for that extra labour. By being open and sticking to your partner or partners you also minimise the risk of contracting HIV, drugs may get very expensive when things fall even further apart.

If the above is all too much, I recommend an honourable death, volunteer your services to the SADC peace-keeping mission for the DR Congo, Laurent Nkunda is guaranteed to kill you, but at least you would have done one good service, to possibly enter heaven. Isn’t that what most Zambians want judging from the proliferation of pastors in every conceivable social setting, even public transport.