Commerce Minister, Felix Mutati says there is an urgent need to speed up the process of setting up the two multi-facility economic zones.

One will be in Chambeshi and the other in Lusaka
as agreed by the governments of Zambia and China.

And Mr. Mutati said it is important to include
Zambian experts in the management structure from the
initial stage of setting up the economic zones so that
there is quick transfer of skills to Zambians.

He was speaking in Xiamen, when he met the management of China Nonferrous Mining Company CNMC which will spearhead the establishment of the multi-facility economic zone in Chambeshi.

The Minister said the government will identify
qualified engineers, accountants, economists and other
local professionals who will work with the Chinese.

The President of CNMC, Luo Tao agreed with Mr. Mutati
on the need to include Zambians in its management
structure in Zambia.

The Chambeshi multi-facility economic zone will be the
first of its kind in Africa to be set up by China.

And CNMC President said his company has already agreed with a Chinese firm that will set up a factory to manufacture malaria and HIV/AIDS drugs in Zambia.

Mr. Luo said many Chinese companies are interested in investing in Zambia because of the country’s conducive investment policies.

Zambia has started to reduce short-dated Treasury Bills and is issuing long-term instruments as it strives to cut its huge domestic debt, Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande said on Friday.

Magande said in a statement that the 8,9 trillion Zambian kwacha  domestic debt would be reduced by eliminating outstanding debt that had built up over a number of years.

He added that the government would maintain its debt loads at sustainable levels by “observing a strict reduction strategy for domestic borrowing and curtailing the accumulation of new debt while clearing existing arrears in a phased approach”.

Zambia has this year received $77,1-million (about R558,2-billion) in new loans after multilateral lenders and western donors cancelled the bulk of the country’s debt in 2006 as part of a global plan to reduce debts owed by some of the world’s poorest nations.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, African Development Bank (AfDB) and Western donors provided Zambia with massive debt relief last year.

Zambia’s strategy for managing debt is to regularly allocate funds in the budget to the reduction of outstanding debt through the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), a government economic management strategy for the 2007/09 period.

“In the case of government securities, the strategy in the medium-term is to manage domestic debt through prudent cost and risk management rather than reduce it,” Magande said.

“In managing the risks, the government is restructuring the domestic debt by reducing short-dated instruments, such as 90-day, 180-day, 270-day Treasury Bills and increasing long-dated instruments such as 7-year, 10-year and 15-year bonds,” he added.

Commercial bank officials say the government has stopped issuing 28-day Treasury Bills.

The concessionary loans from the AfDB and World Bank have terms of repayment of 40 years after a 10-year grace period and a commitment fee of 0.05 percent per annum, Magande said.

The loans received this year will help fund road rehabilitation and maintenance, poverty reduction programmes and improvement of water supply and sanitation.

Zambia’s external debt stood at $957,4-million at the end of 2006. A total $562,4-million of that amount was owed to multilateral creditors, while $395-million was owed to bilateral creditors.

It is time for Chinese investors to go to Africa, a growing market where they can get promising profits, a senior official from Zambia said Saturday.

Newly emerging economic powers of Asia such as China should consider Africa as a profitable investment destination, or they would feel regretted if they do not seize the opportunity, said Felix Mutati, minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry of Zambia, at the International Investment Forum held in the coastal city of Xiamen, southeast China’s Fujian Province.

Many African countries, sharing characteristics of an emerging market, are becoming more democratic and open, while trying to improve their administrative frameworks, the minister said.

Africa needs massive infrastructural projects, particularly roads, power plants, airports, and new mines to meet the demand of industrial development over the past decades, he explained.

“We would like Chinese people to build up factories in Zambia instead of simply selling commodities, so that we can develop ourselves,” said Geoffrey Mwamba, executive chairman of G.B.M Group of Companies from Zambia, who came to China to seek business partners on shipping and cement production.

“There are some Chinese investors in Mozambique, but we want more to help us develop industries like agriculture, fishing, mining, construction, manufacturing, transportation and tourism,” said Martinho Assane Muatxiwa, director of Tourism of Inhambane Province of Mozambique.

Promising that Africa boasts highly rewarding opportunities due to massive demand for ordinary consumer goods and bit-ticket items like houses and cars, Mutati encouraged Chinese and other world-class prospective investors to explore numerous opportunities which remain untapped in Africa to realize mutual economic benefits.

Direct investment by Chinese firms in Africa surged to 480 million U.S. dollars in the first half of this year, and the overall investment from China totaled 11.7 billion U.S. dollars by the end of 2006, official statistics show.

Chinese government has launched fund of 1 billion U.S. dollars to finance trade and investment by Chinese companies in Africa, in a fresh effort to facilitate Sino-African business relations.

Investment from China to Africa is expected to reach 2 billion U.S. dollars in 2007, according to Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank.

The forum was held on the sideline of the 11th China International Fair for Investment and Trade, an annual event held in this coastal city.

UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) in Southern Province has refuted
claims by former Republican Vice President, Lieutenant  General Christon Tembo, that there are only two viable political parties in the country.

UPND Provincial Secretary, Mayaba Hanseluka, told ZANIS in an interview in Monze today that as far as UPND in southern province was concerned. General Tembo
was not the spokesperson for the party and his statement in the press had been taken with great exception.

Mr.Hanseluka was reacting to Lieutenant General Christon Tembo’s statement in The Post newspaper, dated September 7th, 2007, where he was encouraging UK-based
automotive aerospace expert Professor Clive Chirwa to join MMD because there were only two or so viable political parties that were active and could give some sort of direction in the country.

General Tembo’s statement further stated that MMD was the first followed by PF while others were as good as dead.

The UPND spokesperson said that if General Tembo wanted to encourage the UK-based
automotive aerospace expert Professor  to join MMD, he should do it out of national interest and not for personal gain.

He said that UPND was still strong and they are many other political parties in the country that were going strong, adding that General Tembo should visit the
registrar of societies for him to know the number of viable political parties in the country.

He called on the former republican vice president to desist from underrating other political parties in the country especially that he was no longer active in politics.

Community Development Minister Catherine Namugala has called on the church to play a paramount role in supplementing government efforts  aimed at addressing social issues  that affect the vulnerable and underprivileged in society.

Ms Namugala says the church has an obligation to assist government in improving the
living standards of people in societies.

Ms Namugala was speaking at the Fundraising Luncheon of the United Church of Zambia
(UCZ) Section 1 of Kabwata’s St Paul’s Congregation in Lusaka yesterday.

Meanwhile, Mrs Namugala has challenged the church to come up with programmes that
seek to look into the plight of the disabled and the vulnerable people in the
country.

She said government had continued to play its role of ensuring that the burden faced
by the elderly, vulnerable as well as street children in Zambia were tackled through
various programmes.

Ms Namugala said the church needed to join hands with government in coming up with
programmes that will discourage the disabled and the underprivileged people from
going to the streets.

And Zambia National Tourist Board Chairperson Charity Lumpa said the church is
scouting for K20 million to go towards the construction of the church chalets at the
UCZ Kabwata St Paul’s Congregation.

Ms Lumpa, who also represented the UCZ St Paul’s Congregation church at the
fundraising luncheon, further commended government for placing great importance in
working with stakeholders such as the civil society and the church.

Ms Namugala also donated K1.5 million towards the construction of the church
charlets at UCZ Kabwata’s St Paul’s Congregation. 

Steven Chilatu has been re-elected Mayor of the city of Lusaka.

Mr. Chilatu polled 21 votes against his closest rival, Charles Msiska, who got fourteen votes.

Mr. Msiska was the deputy mayor of Lusaka.

Returning Officer, Philomena Ng’wane, announced the results of the elections at the civic centre, Friday morning.

Earlier. councillor Jim Dons, from the opposition UPND withdrew his candidature for the position of Mayor saying his decision was based on self conviction.

And Ngwerere Ward 19 councillor, Mary Chiziya Phiri, has been elected Deputy Mayor of Lusaka.

Mrs. Phiri beat three other candidates to scoop the position.

ZIMBABWEAN President Robert Mugabe stormed out of the recent Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit after an explosive clash with Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa during a closed session, it has emerged.

Mugabe’s confrontation with Mwanawasa and his subsequent indignant departure from the meeting raised fears that the already divided regional bloc could be further weakened by further infighting and divisions.

The SADC is riddled with geo-political and personal rivalries among leaders which threaten to make it difficult to deal with internal conflicts and rein in rogue states. Mugabe’s fracas with Mwanawasa was reminiscent of his row with former South African president Nelson Mandela during a SADC meeting in Angola in 1997.

Diplomatic sources who attended the summit revealed this week that Mugabe walked out of the meeting after a row with Mwanawasa over Zimbabwe’s political and economic crisis.

The sources said Mugabe went off in a huff after the unprecedented confrontation. Mwanawasa was chairing the meeting, which ended on a sour note.

The wrangle was caused by an attempt by Mwanawasa to table Zimbabwe for discussion, a move which enraged Mugabe.

Mugabe arrived home early looking glum after hurriedly leaving the summit. Upon his return, he said the meeting went well but made it clear his regime would continue with its own programmes, regardless of what the SADC leaders were saying.

The SADC said it was preparing an economic recovery package for Zimbabwe, but Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba, said in his anonymous column in the government-controlled daily Herald that Zimbabwe did not need help from the region because “no aid cent will come from SADC countries”, reflecting Mugabe’s attitude after the summit.

This was contrary to President Thabo Mbeki’s claims that there were no divisions over Zimbabwe at the summit and that the SADC was committed to helping Zimbabwe out of its crisis. He had described reports of division as “fictional” and said SADC leaders were not at odds over Zimbabwe.

But information gleaned from senior SADC diplomats indicates there were not just divisions, but a fierce clash between Mugabe and Mwanawasa that left the regional leaders shocked. They say the trouble started after Mbeki del-ivered his report on talks between the Zimbabwean ruling party Zanu (PF) and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Mbeki had earlier given the report to Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the chairman of the SADC organ on politics, defence and security. Mbeki briefed the summit on Zimbabwe in his capacity as an SADC -appointed mediator .

Mbeki said in his briefing there was progress in the talks, although parties needed to intensify negotiations.

“After Mbeki delivered his report to the summit, Mwanawasa, as the chair of the meeting, said there was an urgent need to discuss Zimbabwe because the situation there had become ‘unacceptable’. Kikwete said there was no need to discuss it because talks were in progress and Mbeki concurred,” a senior diplomat said. “Kikwete then suggested Mugabe should be asked what he thought about Mwanawasa’s proposal. When Mugabe was given the platform to speak he launched an angry tirade, attacking Mwanawasa left, right and centre before walking out in protest.”

The diplomat said Mugabe angrily asked: “Who are you, Mwanawasa? Who are you? Who do you think you are?”

“Mugabe also said he was aware of Mwanawasa’s recent meetings with western intelligence agencies on Zimbabwe. He said he would ‘not allow Mwanawasa to sell out Zimbabwe as he has done to Zambia’,” the diplomat said.

“During the process Mwana-wasa was shaken and he kept on saying: ‘Mr President I didn’t mean to say that; you misunderstood me. No, Mr President, that was not my intention’ .”

Sources said Mugabe, after blasting Mwanawasa, walked out and did not return.

Efforts by colleagues — including Kikwete and Mbeki — to persuade him to return to the meeting failed.

BusinessDay 

Mazabuka member of parliament, Garry Nkombo, says the K840 Billion sugarcane investment programme at Zambia Sugar Company plc in Mazabuka, has not benefited local businessmen.

Mr. Nkombo said in Mazabuka during a stakeholders meeting chaired by District Commissioner, Misheck Chiinda, that the company has failed to honour the agreement it made with the local business persons.

He said what is happening now is totally different from what was agreed upon with the company.

Mr. Nkombo said the company assured local contractors and business persons that priority would be given to them before seeking services elswhere.

Mazabuka District Business Association member, George Daka, said his association is disappointed with the company.

Mr. Daka said the association has received a raw deal over the contracts despite assurances from management.