BRAZILIAN INVESTMENT UNVEILED IN ZAMBIA

As concerns regarding the Zambian President Rupiah Banda’s perceived fruitless trips mount, some huge foreign investments have already starting flowing in much to the disappointment of his critiques. Pledges made to the country are now coming to light with visits of high profile presidents and ministers showing fruits.

Brazilian investors have shown commitment in injecting 1billion US dollars in the ARM valley Konkola North Mining project. The investment comes in the wake of that country’s President Luis Inacio Lula Da Silver’s visit last July.
The president was in Zambia with an entourage of businessmen looking at tapping into the untapped investment opportunities. The country’s investment promoters Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has expressed delight with the interest shown so far.

ZDA Director Andrew Chipwende tells that DataBank that the investment is a good development for the country as it will contribute to economic development through revenue collection and job creation. He further reveals other areas of interest by Brazilian investors as development of the integrated sugar-ethanol and co-generation of power project in Luena district in the Western Province of Zambia.

“Technocrats in the Ministry of Agriculture and ZDA are closely working with Brazil in areas of ethanol production as that country has perfected this field hence Zambia stands a better chance of benefiting from this,” says Mr. Chipwende.

With the country moving towards the digital revolution deadline of 2015, ZDA is also happy that Brazil is also interested in injecting some finances in the transmission technology which will see digital Television sets and others. On the other hand the Brazilian government has confirmed its new investment partnership with Zambia. Brazilian Ambassador to Zambia Josal Luiz Pellegrino tells the Data Bank that his government has consolidated its agreements to assist Zambia in utilizing bio-fuels. He says a delegation has since been to Zambia to ascertain the needs of the southern African country in development of bio-fuel structure.

“We want to see Zambia emerge from its energy crisis the same way our country did years ago through the utilization of bio-fuels. In order to do so Zambia can maximize on sugar and plants like Jatropha,” reveals Mr. Pellegrino.

Fuel challenges in Zambia
Zambia is faced with a challenge of high fuel prices which have continued skyrocketing. Various stakeholders have complained that this status quo is a major contributing factor to the high cost of doing business in the country.
A shift from conversional petroleum products to bio-fuel is a call that many civil society organisations have been supporting because of its cheaper production mechanisms and clean nature which does not pollute the air.

Investment in transport
The Brazilian government is also looking at investing in bus body repairs for huge buses like Marcoplo as a way of reviving them after accidents. ZDA Director Andrew Chipwende has stated that the plant will be an establishment of its kind in this part of Africa as South Africa is the only one assembling.

By Brian Mwale

COMESA WOOS US INVESTORS

COMESA Secretary General, Sindiso Ngwenya, and ACTESA CEO, Cris Muyunda, have made earnest appeals to US investors to invest in Africa. Mr. Ngwenya and Dr. Muyunda were speaking separately in Washington DC and Kansas City in the USA at the ongoing AGOA 2010 Summit.
Mr. Ngwenya said Africa has potential to produce enough food for internal needs and international trade. During a panel presentation entitled, ‘Food Security: opportunities for Africa,’ Mr. Ngwenya said the African market provided a huge opportunity for growth in agricultural development and trade.
“We can produce enough for our needs and for the rest of the world as long as all challenges facing the farmers are dealt with, when farming is considered a business and when farmers get the necessary support from their respective governments and private sector,” he said.
Quoting the Mckinsey and Company 2010 report, “Lions on the move”, Mr. Ngwenya said in 20 years, Africa’s collective GDP would be $2.6 trillion, its consumer spending $1.4 trillion, the number of Africans of working age would be 1.1 billion, and 50% of Africans would be living in cities by 2030, showing the huge potential of the continent.
He further said regional integration through the tripartite COMESA, EAC and SADC agreement had created a bigger market which should be exploited.
Mr. Ngwenya said COMESA was addressing the challenges to agricultural development like infrastructure, technology and market related constraints through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).
He said the way forward was to embrace new innovations and technologies that would efficiently support farming practices for higher and better quality yields, citing the continent’s huge irrigation potential.
Meanwhile, Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA) CEO, Cris Muyunda told American investors it was time to ‘board the plane on flight Africa 1.’
Addressing the AGOA Forum in Kansas City on August 5, during the main Business Roundtable discussion on trading and investing successfully in Africa, Dr. Muyunda, who quoted from the Barrons’s business and financial weekly and Africain Invester, stated that it is time to invest in the “final frontier – Africa” and that “Africa is richer than you think”, respectively, told the forum that key areas ready for investment included agro-processing, warehousing and various commodities including, roots and tubers, oil seeds, livestock and fisheries, forest and natural products, tree and plantation crops and agriculture inputs.
He thanked CARGILL and Pioneer, companies that were already investing in Africa and urged others to emulate them.
“Those remaining, you do have in your hands the boarding card for flight Africa 1, it’s time to board the plane,” he said to thunderous applause.
Dr. Muyunda said ACTESA provided a platform for investors to interact with policy makers in trade and investment.
Meanwhile, Dr. Muyunda was among two dozen senior African leaders who met President Barak Obama at a moving and memorable ceremony at the White House in Washington DC. The occasion was specifically reserved for Africa's top leaders visiting America during the AGOA Forum week.
Among the other leaders in the delegation to the White House were Zambian Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Hon. Felix Mutati, AU Vice Chair, His Excellency Erastus Mwencha, Mauritian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Arvin Boolel, former Namibian Prime Minister Hage Geingob, EAC Secretary General, Ambassador Juma Mwapachu, Burundese Agriculture Minister and other senior leaders. The US President met the African leaders in the presence of US Trade Representative Ambassador, Ron Kirk.
Earlier during the day, the senior African officials were part of the AGOA meeting that was addressed by US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.
The 2010 AGOA Forum was held in two states, Washington and Kansas city. The Washington forum brought together senior US administration officials, African government ministers and senior officials, the AU, RECs, US and African businesses.
The second part of the forum in Kansas City focused on agribusiness, meetings with US business leaders and site visits to US local business. Participants had opportunities to engage with US companies in order to attract investors.
Zambia will tentatively host the next AGOA Forum in 2011.

Courtesy of ACTESA

KENYAN AIRWAYS: FROM THE PRIDE TO THE SHAME OF AFRICA

What many Africans look up to as one of the most successful airlines still under government operations is in fact a shame for Africa to boast of. It is an open secret for frequent travelers that while Kenyan Airways plays a cardinal role in Africa’s aviation industry; the service is horrible and leaves much to be desired.

Flight cancellations, delays and lies about pilots being sick are a daily routine for Kenyan Airways an airline that was once the Pride of Africa.
Passengers have continued complaining but nothing positive seems to come out of this.
While we appreciate the role that the airline plays in africa’s international trade and networking, its operations leave much to be desired.

On July 29, 2010 while connecting from Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania to Lusaka, Zambia vis Nairobi Kenya, I was made to wait for more than two hours in the name of the pilot being sick and officials were looking for a replacement who would arrive in twenty minutes time which ended up being two hours.
September 5, 2010 while waiting for a plane going into Lilongwe whose flight was scheduled for 11:15hrs world from the Kenyan officials was that the flight would be delayed because the plane had apparently over fueled hence causing a malfunction on one engine forcing the pilots to heard back to Nairobi. This saw tens of people being affected.
Fortunately for us heading for Lilongwe an arrangement was made with bumpy Air Malawi and sad for others who had to wait for the midnight flight. As though that was not enough, flying from Malawi was challenging as the pilot was again reported to be sick on Wednesday September 8th forcing the cancellation of the flight to the next day which saw Lusaka bound passengers having their one hour thirty minutes flight being prolonged by first going to Nairobi and waiting for four hours before connecting.
These are just but a few memorable incidents of the many complaints that many people have raised against this airline whose Corporate Affairs department seems to be sleeping as no official statement or apology is issued apart from the cliché now turned Kenyan Airline Daily anthem of “We would like to apologize for any inconveniences caused.”
Reports of strikes and lack of motivating factors for workers have been heard but nothing much seems to be done to turn tables.
Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Niarobi is one of the busiest airports in Africa putting Kenya on the map for international trade and connections, however, the operations of the National flag carrier are what are making Africans like us now start felling ashamed.
What is need is a complete over haul of the airline and put some people that are able to perform. In as much as the aviation industry is very costly and involving, the need for better players and managers are of the essence.
As the world is now turned into a global village and the need for networking among professionals from various nations and sectors of the economy, I can not do away without Kenyan Airlines as it seems to be monopolizing certain routes hence need for improvement in service delivery.
Free advice in running a service based business “don’t take more than what you can carry or manage.” Kenyan Airway needs to enhance its network with its African and overseas partners in the routes instead of getting a huge client base which it can’t manage.

BUFFETT AND GATES ON CHINESE MISSION

(FT) -- Having persuaded many of their billionaire peers in the U.S. to give away chunks of money, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are traveling to China to sell newly minted Chinese tycoons on the value of philanthropy.

But the fear of being seduced into giving up part of their fortunes might have scared some of the tycoons away from a dinner that the crusading U.S. billionaires are hosting in Beijing this month.

The exclusive list of attendees includes Zhang Xin, CEO of Chinese SOHO China, the real estate developer, and Wang Chuanfu, head of BYD, the car and battery maker, who counts Buffett as an investor.

But according to the Chinese media, the head of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Beijing is worried that some invited guests might be reluctant to come.

"A small number of people declined the invitation to attend, while many of the invitees called to ask whether they would be required to pledge a donation at the dinner," the director of the foundation's China program, Ray Yip, was quoted as saying.

"Their biggest fear is being embarrassed and put on the spot." Yip's spokesperson did not dispute his comments, carried on a major news portal and the Economic Observer, when contacted on Friday.

Yip said the dinner was intended to allow Gates and Buffett to get to know friends and exchange ideas about partners interested in charity, not to convince Chinese tycoons to make donations.

Gates and Buffett might send out an explanatory letter reassuring their guests that they would not be put on the spot in the way their U.S. counterparts had been, according to Chinese media reports.

The pair's initiative, launched in the U.S. in June, has already secured support from many wealthy American individuals and their families.

Rupert Hoogewerf, who compiles the Hurun Report, China's rich list, said many Chinese remained sceptical of the motivations of people donating money.

"The most important stakeholder in all charities in China is always the government, and there is usually a suspicion that a lot of donations are not pure philanthropy but rather influence-buying by wealthy business people."

But Hoogewerf was optimistic about the U.S. pair's work in China, especially after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, which changed the priorities of many Chinese entrepreneurs.

"Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are idolised by Chinese entrepreneurs," he said. "Their coming out here is likely to kickstart philanthropy in China."
By Jamil Anderlini, FT.com

ZAMBIA RANKED A-PLUS INVESTMENT DESTINATION

Despite the increasing cost of doing business in Zambia, some international firms like SAFAL Group of companies is happy with the investment climate the Southern African nation provides.
An international Investments firm has ranked Zambia as an A-Plus investment destination.
SAFAL group to which SAFINTRA Zambia local Steel is a part has identified Zambia as an investment hub in Southern Africa because of its conducive investment climate.
SAFINTRA Zambia Limited Director Ashok Kumar Sood says this has seen the group of companies intensifying plans of setting up a nail and terrace manufacturing plant in Zambia. He says his firm is also looking at increasing its 5million US Dollars investment in Zambia to five fold in the next five years.
The SAFINTRA Director also reveals that his firm has been sourcing for funds from various financial institutions.

“SAFAL has borrowed some finances from the International Finance Corporation –IFC- which is a member of the World Bank as part of its investment strategy in many nations, but as SAFINTRA we have borrowed some money from Stanbic Bank Zambia” says Mr. Sood.
Meanwhile Mr. Sood has appealed to the Zambian government to consider standardizing the sector. He says introducing standards will protect consumers from exploitation.
Mr. Sood says government should take a leaf from Kenya and Uganda which have an effective standards system. Mr. Sood further notes that he has since made a recommendation to the Zambia Bureau of Standards –ZABS- for the matter.

“I have submitted some papers on how standardization has been working for countries like Kenya which I feel would work well for Zambia……..if this happens many firms will be looking at providing quality goods and not compete on prices,” adds Mr. Sood.
He was speaking during a conducted media tour of the firm in Lusaka today.
By Brian Mwale.

MMD PRESIDENTIAL HOPEFUL MANHANDLED BY PARTY CADRES AS MUVI TV NEWS CREW GETS DEATH THREATS

An effort aimed at paying respect to the deceased found former Finance Minister and MMD Chilanga Member of Parliament Ngandu Magande in a physical fiasco with angray cadres turning the mourning house into a fighting zone.
Movement for Multi Party Democracy –MMD- cadres in Lusaka has physically manhandled the party’s presidential hopeful Ngandu Magande when he visited late Mpulungu Member of Parliament Lameck Chibombamilimo’s house of mourning.
Mr. Magande who is Chilanga Member of Parliament says he was blocked from entering the yard by cadres who were chanting funeral songs outside Mr. Chibombamilimo’s premises.

He says his jacket has been torn and cell phone stolen from him.
Mr. Magande has attributed the fiasco to certain top party officials who are jittery that he will take over national leadership.

And efforts to get a comment from MMD Lusaka Province Chairperson William Banda who was at the scene proved futile as he was heavily protected by the cadres.
And MMD Lusaka Central Youth Chairman Chilekwa Munkonge who was also part of Mr. Banda’s entourage refused to comment despite having approached the Muvi TV Crew as he stated that it was in his constituency.

“How can I help you? You are in my constituency, I am not aware about any incident her,” said Mr. Munkonge before he moved away straight to his car and drove off.
Meanwhile, a three man Muvi TV Crew was issued with death threats should pictures of MMD Cadres singing in buses air on the TV station’s news bulletins.
A grey haired MMD Cadre who emerged from Mr. William Banda’s car threatened to grab the camera and ordered the Muvi TV cameraman to give him the tape.

However, when he was told that the camera was digital and did not use any tape, the man said he knows where to find the crew and that politics is about life and death and he will deal with them should they report about the incident.
“I know all of you and where you are found……if you run anything on Muvi TV tomorrow I know how to get to you, politics is about life and death,” threatened the old man.
The crew was saved by another cadre who was civil in his dealings.
Police officers stationed at the funeral house watched helplessly as the MUVI TV crew was harassed despite them being a meter away from the scene.

GOVERNMENT CONCERNED WITH AUDITOR GENERAL’S REPORT ON RDA

Reports on misappropriation of funds in RDA as shown in the Auditor General’s report is worrisome, but should not affect infrastructure development. With this status quo, the Zambian government has engaged cooperating partners to study the report together.

President Rupiah Banda has disclosed that Government is studying the Auditor General’s report on the reported gross misappropriation of public funds at the Road Development Agency (RDA).President Banda also revealed that Government is discussing the report with cooperating partners and the Auditor General’s Office with the urgency it deserved so that it does not become prone to ridicule. Mr. Banda said the matter surrounding the RDA should not stop the country from developing its infrastructure.

President Banda was answering questions from Journalists shortly before he left for France where he is scheduled to attend the France- Africa summit. “Government is studying the AG RDA report and we are discussing the report before it becomes prone to ridicule,” the President said.

The Auditor General’s report has revealed huge misappropriation of public funds at the RDA. Meanwhile, President Banda has left for Nice , France where he is going to attend the 25th France -African two-day Summit . The presidential plane carrying Mr. Banda left at the Lusaka International Airport at exactly 07-25 hours local time.
Mr. Banda who will be among other African Heads of States disclosed that Zambia is likely to benefit from France by way of accessing credit for the construction of the country’s infrastructure.

Mr. Banda observed that though Zambia was not colonised by the French government, he expressed happiness that there was room for Zambia to woo French investors to come and invest in the country. He said Zambia and that country enjoys a warm and cordial relationship that has existed for many years ago. The Head of State paid gratitude to France for the services rendered during the hospitalization of the late president (Dr Mwanawasa) in that country and the transportation of his body to Zambia after his death.

“ As I go to France, I would like to thank the president of France for his efforts during the illness of our beloved president the late Dr. Mwanawasa and subsequent death and flowing Dr. Mwanawasa’s body home (to Zambia). Mr. Banda is accompanied toFrance by Foreign Affairs Minister Kabinga Pande, Energy Minister Kenneth Konga, Finance and National Planning Deputy Minister Chileshe Kapwepwe and Southern Province Minister Daniel Munkombwe and other senior government officials.

President Banda was seen off at the airport by Vice President George Kunda, Defence Minster Kalombo Mwansa, Home Affairs Minister Mkhondo Lungu, Secretary to the Cabinet Dr. Joshua Kanganja , Chief Government Spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha, Sports Minister Kenneth Chipungu, Lands Minister Gladys Lundwe, Works and Supply Minister Mike Mulongoti, Lusaka Mayor Robert Chikwelete and senior government officials.

The two-day summit which starts on Monday is a gathering aimed at strengthening ties between African countries and France .
The last summit was attended by Late republican President Dr Levy Mwanawasa in 2008. France which is expected to take over presidency of the G-12 is determined to understand the needs of African countries. France ’s policy is to open itself to all African countries whether or not they are its former colonies.
ZANIS