The government will next week start the official bidding process for the construction of the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway. Infrastructure, Housing, and Urban Development Minister Charles Milupi has said that an advert calling for bids will be issued.

Mr. Milupi said that the government has already received a number of unsolicited bids on the project and some are proposing to work on the road at a cost that is 40-percent lower than the initial $1.2 billion projected by the previous regime.

Mr. Milupi said that the project will uphold the three conditions set by President HAkainde Hichilema of ensuring that construction works are done at the right price and delivered to the right quality in a timely manner.

The Infrastructure Minister said this in Ndola when he paid a courtesy call on Copperbelt Province Minister Elisha Matambo.

Mr. Matambo said the Lusaka-Ndola road is in a bad state and needs to be worked on urgently because it connects other parts of the country to the Copperbelt which is an economic hub.

Mr. Matambo also asked the infrastructure Minister to consider working on other roads in the Province such as the Chingola-Kasumbalesa, Ndola-Mufulira, Mufulira -Mokambo, and Chibuluma roads among others.

Mr. Milupi is leading an entourage of Road Development Agency (RDA) officials who are inspecting road projects on the Copperbelt and North-Western Provinces.

Lately, Former Transport Minister William Harrington said that the recent revelations by transport minister Frank Tayali that the contractor engaged to construct the controversial Lusaka-Ndola duo carriageway have offered to construct the road at 50 percent lower than the original cost of $1.2 billion smells of corruption.

In 2018 the PF administration under then-president Edgar Lungu agreed to have the Lusaka-Ndola dual carriageway constructed at a cost of more than $1.2 billion but the road development agency halted the construction of the road and attributed the stagnation to financial constraints.

Transport and Logistics Minister Frank Tayali is on record to have disclosed that the contractor that was meant to work on the dual carriageway at a cost of more than $1.2 billion has come back into the country and has agreed to do the works at a-50 percent lower rate than what was demanded before.

But Mr. Harrington said that there was need for the anti-corruption commission to take interest in the matter as it is one of the projects the former patriotic front regime could have attempted to use to siphon money from the country for its failed attempt to win the august elections. Mr. Harrington has advised the new dawn government to ask the contractor why he overpriced the road project.

Zambia’s central bank expects to complete research on forming a digital currency that could cut transaction costs and boost participation in the formal financial system by the fourth quarter.

“The results of the research will form part of the input in the policy considerations on whether to introduce a central bank digital currency in Zambia,” Nkatya Kabwe, acting assistant director of communications at the regulator, said in response to emailed questions.

CBDCs, or so-called GovCoins, are national currency because they are linked to fiat currency, unlike their crypto counterparts such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

Cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in Zambia, the central bank said earlier this month and “people who want to deal in them should have a clear understanding of all the risks that come with such payment and investment instruments.”

The Bank of Zambia is researching GovCoins as they have the potential to expand financial inclusion, improve traceability, safety and efficiency of payment systems, Kabwe said.

Analysts at the Bank of America Corp. have warned that central banks that don’t introduce their own digital money risk losing monetary control and seeing the demand for their currencies drop as their citizens start using another country’s digital cash.

Zambia joins nations such as Israel, Ghana, the Bahamas, Nigeria, China and the U.S. that are toying with the idea or have issued a digital version of their currencies to keep up with technological advances that have spurred the rise of Bitcoin and other private initiatives.

Bloomberg

Social Economist and marketing expert Kelvin Chisanga says the Kwacha’s instability and continued depreciation against major world currencies such as the US Dollar can be restrained by increased exports.

According to Absa Bank daily indicative rates, the Kwacha was on Tuesday buying the US Dollar at 18.3087 and selling at 18.6598.

Almost around the same period last month, the Kwacha was buying the US Dollar at 16.9709 and selling at 17.2963

The local currency started going down with a significant margin around 14th January when trading between 16.9709 and 17.2963 against the US dollar

In a written statement, Mr. Chisanga said trade imbalance is one of the major reasons the Kwacha is losing value as Zambia continues to import more than it exports.

He said there is a need to come up with a deliberate policy aimed at boosting exports away from the traditional copper and its by-products.

“The Kwacha’s challenging performances can be moderated by a stronger export-driven policy. Zambia should aspire to formulate an export-led facility growth policy to help on the balance of trade especially targeting strongly on commodities outside copper, if we are to drive a sound diversification in policies, we should firmly centre our focus on promoting non-traditional export especially if we are to put all our arsenals on agricultural products, we can drastically increase the export base to facilitate conducive macroeconomic conditions for this country,” Mr. Chisanga said.

“The proposed policy formula can ultimately stimulate an increase in the domestic production sectors by widening local manufacturing activities with aims to improve on the export market, thereby creating an economic multiplier effect which will eventually push through some good employment numbers and can actually also increase values on the gross domestic product (GDP) though that cannot be taken as an immediate cause but with time it will look a positive undertaking,” he said.

“The main idea behind the IMF pushing most developing economies to embrace their prescription is that countries should aim to maintain a relatively stable or low exchange rate which helps such targets (countries) to build up on foreign reserves, and this can equally serve as a cushion against such futuristic financial shocks,” he said.

Mr. Chisanga observed that the depreciation of the Kwacha is further pushing the inflation rate up.

“Kwacha’s current challenges are mainly due to trade differences that are existing between import and export, at the moment the country is seen importing more volumes in terms of numbers of goods compared to the volumes of export moving out of our borders to regional markets. This is the bad case which will always promote inflation to shoot up from the target range especially if it is left unchecked by various stakeholders.”

“However, we can improve the economy by restoring balance of payment equilibrium especially through an increase in the value of our exports, import reduction by using the local industrialization policy to make certain controls, and impose a moderate custom duty for undesirable goods and services in the country through our revenue offices which may be a bit difficult to implement with a poor political will, looking at a slow-pace of some economic activities being experienced,” he said.

Mr. Chisanga said the rise in demand for foreign exchange always exceeds its supply thereby causing the Kwacha to depreciate.

“Unfortunately, we are importing mostly finished products with the scarce foreign exchange at slightly higher cost at present. This means that imports and exports are sinking the power of Kwacha, subjecting it to some ‘pressure’ since available foreign exchange is always less than what is required to make on our numerous consumable imports. The export base is so narrow that it can’t be equivalent to the import bill.”

He concluded: “Technically speaking, the rise in demand for foreign exchange always exceeds its supply, and by nature the law of demand and supply, the Kwacha must fall, a case at the moment which can be looked upon with a strong and deep sense of change in policy to steer economic growth and bring about sustainable means.”