zda spotlight : november 2009

8/14/2019 ZDA Spotlight : November 2009

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PAGE 2 IS SUE 9

Chinese FDI to Zambia Rise

Amid Economic Slump

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflowsfrom China to Zambia this year havereached US$800 million, representingover 35 percent growth in comparison

to 2008, Minister of Commerce, Tradeand Industry, Felix Mutati has said.

Mr. Mutati said the increased Chineseinvestment in Zambia has helped toaddress some of the challenges related to the global economic downturn in thecountry. He said although Zambia ex-perienced the global economic crisis this year, Chinese investors continued to increase their investment portfolios

in various sectors of the economy.

Mr. Mutati said Chinese investors nei- ther reduced production nor invest-

ment despite the economic slump, butinstead they took over the LuanshyaCopper Mine and are currently com-pleting procedures to take over theMunali Nickel mine which was ownedby Albidon Company. He said the taking over of the operations of the two minesby Chinese investors will increase FDIfrom that country to Zambia by

US$425 million.

“Zambia is still receiving more Chineseinvestors who are looking for moreinvestment opportunities in agriculture, tourism, manufacturing and mining

sectors among others,” Mr. Mutati said.The minister said there was need forZambia and China to enhance theireconomic and political cooperation tiesin order to uplift the living standards of

the people in the two countries.

Zambia Targets Malaysian In-vestors in Construction, Educa-

tion

Zambia, through the Ministry of Com-merce, Trade and Industry and theZambia Development Agency under-

took an investment promotion missionto Malaysia from the 20th –25th Octo-ber 2009 under the theme “BusinessOpportunities in Construction and Edu-cation in Zambia.” The mission wasunder the umbrella of the StrategicAction Initiative for Economic Develop-ment programme – the Triangle of

Hope.

The mission involved a one day semi-nar and one-on-one meetings with strategic investors. The aim of the missionwas to attract Malaysian business en- trepreneurs in construction and educa-

tion sectors who should join the busi-ness delegation to Zambia in the first

week of December, 2009.

clude the construction of bridges, demar-cating of farms in sizeable volumes andconstruction of feeder roads to individualfarms. Nansanga Farming Block is one of

the nine farming blocks earmarked fordevelopment in the county in order toincrease investment inflow in the agricul-

ture sector.

CSO Predicts 6.3% Growth

The Central Statistical Office (CSO) hasexpressed optimism that the Zambianeconomy will grow by more than six percent this year. Preliminary estimates ofreal Gross Domestic Product (GDP)show that the economy is expected togrow by 6.3 per cent in 2009.

CSO director, Efreda Chulu said the 6.3per cent growth would be attained thisyear saying the figure might even beexceeded based on the informationavailable at the organisation. Ms Chulusaid in Lusaka most sectors of the econ-omy which were previously not doing well were currently picking up.

“The 6.3 per cent growth will be attain-able and we may even exceed it basedon the information we have,” she said.The projected growth is due to expectedstrong growth in the agriculture, forestryand fishing, mining and quarrying aswell as the construction industries.

In his 2010 Budget address to Parlia-ment in October this year, Finance andNational Planning Minister SitumbekoMusokotwane said the projected eco-nomic growth for 2009 was pegged at4.3 per cent representing a slight down-ward revision to the earlier projection of five per cent announced in the lastBudget address.

Dr Musokotwane, however, saidchances were extremely bright that thefive per cent target would not only beattained but also exceeded should eco-nomic conditions continue to improve in this final quarter of 2009. Ms Chuluexpected Zambia to continue recording trade surpluses for some time. During the month of October, Zambia recordeda trade surplus valued at K299.5 billionmeaning the country exported more in the month than it imported in value terms. In September, Zambia also re-corded a trade surplus valued atK302.2 billion. Times of Zambia

Cement Plant Opens

Zambezi Portland has started producing

cement at its Ndola plant and has alreadyprocessed 3000 metric tonnes of cement

since production commenced.

Nansanga Farming Block Near Com-

pletion

The Multi-Sectoral Committee of the Nan-

sanga Farming Block has allocated about 40

000 hectares of land for 343 small and me-

dium scale farmers and the rest of the hectorage for commercial farmers in the Farming

Block. And infrastructure development in the

Farming Block has reached an advanced

stage, with the three main roads leading into

the Block, and two dams with the capacity to

impound 100 million litres having been com-

pleted.

Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives Chief

Agricultural Specialist in Land Husbandry,

Nyambango Sishekanu, said 300 small scale

and 43 medium scale farmers will benefit

from the land allocated for the smallholderscheme in the Farming Block. Mr. Sishekanu

said farm sizes for small scale farmers will

range from 30 to 50 hectares and 50 to 900

hectares for medium scale farmers, while

commercial farms will be between 900 to

10,000 hectares each.

According to the Nansanga Farming Block

plan, each commercial farm will have a fac-

tory for value addition to its farm produce and

the produce supplied by the smallholders

within the Farming Block to increase the agro-

industry’s contribution to the country’s grossdomestic product (GDP).

Meanwhile, much of the infrastructure being

developed in the Farming Block has been

completed in readiness for prospective farm-

ers to occupy the farms. Major infrastructure

projects like road networks, power installa-

tion, building of dams for the irrigation sys-

tem, and the construction of the telecommu-

nications system are in their final stages to

give room for farmers to take charge of the

farming business in the Block. The Zambia

Electricity Company Limited (ZESCO) haserected power lines for a distance of 95 km

(33 KV) and 20km (11KV power line), built

two sub-stations and placed several trans-

formers in strategic areas in the Farming

Block.

And MTN and Zain Zambia have erected twohydro-electric powered telecommunications towers in the Block to ease the communica- tion in the area besides the oil driven towers the companies were initially using. Two damsof the eight, earmarked to be built in theBlock have been completed with the capacity

of storing more than 100 million litres of water and a throw back of 1.5 km. Other infra-structure projects in the Farming Block in-



3

ZDA Dates Western Province

From Page 1

to take advantage of the EU sugar freequotas to earn foreign exchange. Mr.Chipwende called on the private sectorand small and micro enterprises in par-

ticular to take advantage of opportunities created under the ZDA such as thebusiness linkage programme, the incu-bator programme and the business de-velopment services (BDS) voucher pro-gramme, to improve the welfare of thelocal people.

However, some felt that ZDA needed do

more to stimulate growth in the province

and to develop specific programmes

that would help improve the living stan-

dards of the people and remove the

“poorest province” stigma because the

province had abundant natural re-sources. Participants included the Bar-

otse Royal Establishment, Western Prov-

ince Chambers of Commerce, and

ZCSMBA; the Dutch, Namibian and Chi-

nese embassies; ZRA, SNV, and Invest

Trust Bank. Others were Future Search,

Development Bank of Zambia and the

media.

Business Support Organisations

Empowered

On 11th to 12th November 2009, theSwedish Chambers and Zambia Devel-opment Agency organised a two-dayworkshop for Zambian Business Sup-port Organisations to share experienceson handling business inquiries andmarket information and discuss oppor-tunities, challenges and strategies for

matching available opportunities.

The workshop was aimed at highlight-ing ways of facilitating companies’search for new business contacts andmarket information in order to improveefficiency and reduce on time-consumption in identifying businessoffers. It also looked at practical waysof searching for business partners,matchmaking and cooperating opportu-nities in developing a system for han-dling business inquiries and informa-

tion in Zambia.

The workshop was in line with the Zam-bia Development Agency and the Swed-ish Chambers’ strategies to promote

joint ventures and providing an easyway to contact other companies withbusiness offers directly. The workshop

which took place in Lusaka was under the theme “Finding Business and Mar-

ket Information.”

US Approves Four Zambian Ex-

ports (From Page 1)

She said AGOA was structured to en-courage value-added products into theUS market in order to create more jobs

opportunities and attract investors in theagriculture sector due to returns at-

tached to the venture.

Speaking at the same meeting, South-ern Africa Global Competitiveness HubDirector Todd Thompson said if Zambiawas to trade in the US market in foodproducts, it needed to be very competi- tive and offer unique products. Mr.Thompson said the Trade Hub aimed atproviding technical assistance and iden- tify African products that can succeed in

the US market.

And Zambia Export and Growers Asso-ciation (ZEGA) Chief Executive OfficerLuke Mbewe said the biggest barriers to the US market are sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures. Mr. Mbewe saidwhen ZEGA tried to export to the USmarket seven years ago, only one prod-uct was permitted, yet the organisationexported a variety of horticulture andfloriculture products to Europe weresuch measures were less prohibitive.There are 6,000 products under theAGOA that are eligible to enter the US

market.

SNV Assists 8000 Farmers

SNV Zambia, a Netherlands Develop-ment Organisation, is supporting 8,000small-scale farmers to increase riceproduction to three tonnes from 0.9tonnes in 2009/10 farming seasons.The SNV is currently supporting thegrain/cereal production in Western Prov-ince under the Sefula Rice Project, aproducer cooperative. SNV Private Sec- tor Development Advisor Ekanath Khati-wada said increasing production willincrease incomes and employment in

this value chain.

Mr. Khatiwada said this when he pre-sented a paper on SNV Programmes in the provinces at a trade and investmentworkshop organised by the ZDA inMongu. He said levels of rice productionare low despite high demand from localand regional markets. Mr. Khatiwadaattributed the low productivity levels tolack of reliable water under the irrigationschemes although he said Sefula RiceProject was an exception. He said theestimated demand for rice in the regionis about 35,000 metric tonnes annuallybut 18,000 tonnes is produced despite

the consumption rate being high.

“Other challenges include limited mar-ket for rice and high cost of input such

as fertilizer,” he said. “Eastern andSouthern Africa is experiencing high riceconsumption rate of six percent per

annum.”

Mr. Khatiwada also said there is need to

explore other economic values of rice by

products such as rice husks and stock

feed for animals. Currently West Africa is

the hub of rice production, with Zambia

and Mozambique importing less than 90

percent of local demand. SNV also sup-

ports bee products Jatropha, tourism,

and forestry in selected parts of the

country. Zambia Daily Mail.

CEEC Disburses K92 Billion

Commerce Trade and Industry Minister,Felix Mutati has said K92 billion, out of

the K150 billion earmarked for the Citi-zens’ Economic Empowerment Commis-sion (CEEC) funds have been releasedfor various developmental projects. TheMinister said K35 billion has alreadybeen spent on about 160 projects, whileanother 240 projects have been ap-proved at a cost of K52 billion as at30th September 2009, creating over1,200 jobs.

Mr. Mutati said the Commission was stillconsidering the remaining projects forfunding. He explained that the benefici-aries of the CEEC funds have beendrawn from both urban and rural areasof Zambia, contrary to assertions bysome people that only those from urbanareas have benefited.

Mr. Mutati stated that the funds aremeant for all the Zambian citizens, add-ing that the rural communities have notbeen left out. He further explained thatCEEC has established offices in all thedistricts in order to make people access the funds easily.

Government has put on board youth

groups, women clubs and the physicallychallenged persons as priority for ac-cessing the funds. “The government willconsider increasing the allocation to theCommission so that more people couldbenefit as a way of alleviating poverty incommunities,” Mr. Mutati said. ZANIS

Kansanshi Ups Production

Kansanshi Mine, owned by Canada’s FirstQuantum Minerals, says copper produc-

tion rose to 182,500 tonnes from January to September 2009 compared with output

of 153,300 tonnes in the same period lastyear. The mine produced 61,3000 tonnesof copper in the third quarter of this year,

higher than last year’s production.

PAGE 3ISSUE 9



4

ZDA Bags Gold At Botswana

Global Expo

The Zambia Development Agency re-ceived the Best Country Pavilion (Gold)Award beating ten countries that com-peted in that category at the Botswana

Global Expo, which took place from the4th to 7 th November 2009, in the capital

Gaborone.

Brazil was second with the silver award,while Kenya took the third position with the bronze award. The other participantswere South Africa, India, China, Angola,

Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

The Global Expo held under the theme“Unlocking Opportunities in the CurrentGlobal Recession” was officially openedby His Honour the Vice President Lt.Gen. Mompati Merafhe. The exhibition

included a variety of industries ranging from mining, agriculture, processedfoods, engineering, information technol-

ogy and tourism.

Zambia was represented by ten compa-nies among them Kafue Gorge RegionalTraining Centre, Copperbelt Forestry,Sylva Food Solutions, Wildlife Conserva- tion Society and Kabwata Visual Artsand Crafts. On the sidelines of the exhi-bition, buyer seller meetings and aninvestment forum were held with countrypresentations. At the forum ZDA made apresentation on “Doing Business in

Zambia” highlighting trade and invest-

ment opportunities in Zambia.

The Botswana Global Expo is the country’s only international business to busi-ness exhibition focused on the industrialand agriculture sectors. The objective is to offer exhibitors and visitors an oppor- tunity to actively promote their busi-nesses and attract Foreign Direct Invest-ment (FDI) and joint venture opportuni-

ties.

Let’s Create a Single Market in

Africa”

COMESA Secretary General Mr. SindisoNgwenya has called on Africa to deepen

integration and move to a single market.

“Africa is a resource-rich continent and itcan only thrive if we are better organised.We should stop the blame game. In placeslike Japan and South Korea, you don’t find

the same mentality. Let us work together to deepen integration and move towardscreating a single market in Africa”, saidMr. Ngwenya. According to the COMESAnewsletter, Mr. Ngwenya further said CO-MESA has a role in the creation of a conti-

nental market, noting that if we have onesingle African market then we don’t need

regional markets.

African Peace, Security To Open Oppor-

tunities

President Rupiah Banda has said peaceand security will open up opportunitiesfor the Great Lakes region membercountries to concentrate on exploiting

natural resources for the improvementof the standard of living of its people.

Speaking during the round-table confer-ence at the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) in Bu-rundi, Mr. Banda said sustainable peaceand stability remains a fundamentalprerequisite for sustainable economic

development in the Great Lakes region.

He said leaders in the Great Lakes Re-gion were aware of the major ills andvices AIDS that beset the region, such ascorruption, poverty, human rights viola-

tions, malaria and HIV/ and remainedcommitted to deal with them.

“I am confident that we shall remaincommitted to our ideals as the Interna- tional Conference on the Great LakesRegion, and collectively deal with theseimpediments whenever they arise,” Mr.Banda said. “Therefore, based on theoverriding principles of ownership, part-nership and inclusiveness as outlined in the 2004 Dar es Salaam Declaration, itis important for all stakeholders to en-sure systematic and full mainstreaming of these cross-cutting issues into our

programmes of action during the imple-

mentation of the pact.”

He said with collective dedication, soli-darity and support from all stakeholders, the core vision of the ICGLR of creating ahub of sustainable peace and securityas well as shared economic growth will

be achieved. Zanis

Developing Economies Expect

Growth

Bank of Botswana governor, Ms. LinahMohohlo has revealed that emerging anddeveloping countries are expected toregister a growth rate of 1.7 per cent thisyear as the world recovers from the global

economic recession.

She said this is nonetheless a muchslower rate of the expansion compared to

the six per cent achieved in 2008. Theeconomic recession resulted from the2007 collapse of the mortgage market in

the United States as well as major worldeconomies and its depth and spreadreflected deeper global economic and

trade imbalances. Speaking at the launchceremony to mark the opening of the

Botswana Global Expo in Gaborone, MsMohohlo said the recession was severe in

advanced economies.

ISSUE 7PAGE 4 Regional Spotlight Regional Spotlight Regional Spotlight

BEDIA Named IPA of the Year

The Botswana Export Development andInvestment Authority (BEDIA) has beennamed the Investment Promotion Agencyof the Year by the Research Group AfricaInvestor at its 2009 Investment and Busi-

ness Leader Awards ceremony held inPretoria.

The Group has also named Stanbic BankPlc (a member of Standard Bank Group),

the Best Africa Investment Bank and theBest Africa Research Team. The Invest-ment Climate Initiative award went to theEU BizClim Facility, while the Infrastruc-

ture Regulator of the Year Award went to the Communications Commission of Kenya. Lesotho Highlands Water Projects

took gold, winning Water Deal of the Yearaward, and Rand Merchant Bank led theway with Social Infrastructure Deal of the

Year.

Other winners included the African Devel-opment Bank, winning the Sponsor of the

Year award and the Industrial Develop-ment Corporation, which won the awardfor Developer of the Year. The PPP Cham-pion of the Year went to Stanbic IBTCBank Plc (a member of the StandardBank Group) whilst Nedbank Capital tookTransport Deal of the Year Award. TheAwards record performance between2008 and 2009, which represents one of

the most challenging investment periods

in economic history. ainewswire.com

COMESA Monetary Institute Vital

for the Region”

Governors of Central Banks from theCOMESA region who met in Mauritiusrecently have emphasised the impor-

tance of monetary and fiscal policy har-monisation in the region to foster na-

tional policy credibility and reduce on therisk of policy reversals. The governorssaid once the policy was operational, theCOMESA Monetary Institute would signifi-cantly contribute to enhancing the har-monisation and coordination of macro-

economic policies, deepening and broad-ening financial markets, promotion of regional stock markets and managementof banking supervision regulation, among

others.

New Law to Aim at Foreign Firms

Zimbabwe has revived a controversial bill that would require locals own 51% stake inall foreign firms operating in the country.The Indigenisation and Economic Empow-erment Act will give companies 60 days tohand over the ownership, if the measurewins approval by Parliament and is signedby President Mugabe, according to a copyof the proposed law. The takeover would

target companies valued at U$500,000

or above. Sapa-AFP.



5

China Cements Relations with

Africa

CHINA’S Premier has pledged $10 billionin low interest loans to African nationsover the next three years and said Beijingwould cancel the government debts to

some of the poorest of those countries,as the Asian powerhouse looked to de-flect criticism that its investments were

motivated by greed.

At a two-day China-Africa summit, Chi-nese Premier Wen Jiabao also said Chinawould build 100 new clean energy pro-

jects for Africa over the same period aspart of the effort for the continent to deal

with climate change issues.

“We will help Africa build up financing capacity,” he said. “We will provide $10billion in concessional loans to African

countries.” Concessional loans are theones that offer generous terms - better

than market rates - to poor countries.

China’s inroads into Africa have come ata price for Beijing. It has been accused bysome in the West of ignoring Africa’sneeds and the dismal rights records of itscountries, while looking only to sate itshunger for the fuel it needs to drive itseconomy. But Wen said that while manyin the world had only now begun to takenote of China’s role in Africa, it was arelationship that dated back five decadesand included helping the countries throw

off the York of colonialism. BusinessRe-port.

SA to Host Major Tourism Summit

South Africa will host the first meeting ofG20 tourism ministers in February nextyear as part of the global response tounprecedented economic changes, Tour-ism Minister Marthinus van Schalkwykhas said. Mr. Van Schalkwyk said theG20 had played a central role in discuss-ing the strengthening of economic coop-eration on a range of issues affecting theglobal economy, hence the summit was

key to boost tourism in the country and the region.

“Though not immune to the global eco-nomic downturn, tourism has so far re-sisted the financial crisis better thanmany other sectors, such as construction,real estate and car manufacturing,” hesaid. “South Africa recorded 9.5 millionarrivals in 2008, which constitutes anincrease of 5.5% compared to 2007. Mr.Van Schalkwyk said the tourism depart-ment would, in collaboration with thedepartment of sports, host a United Na-

tions World Tourism Organisation

(UNWTO)/South Africa Summit on Tour-ism, Sport and Mega-events from Febru-ary 24 to 26 in Sandton, Johannesburg,

South Africa. Sapa

Clayton Capital to Invest U$50

million

Clayton Capital, an equity fund institutionfrom the United Kingdom, is investingabout U$50 million in agribusiness andrelated infrastructure in Zambia under

the company name Chobe Agrivision

Limited.

Speaking at the signing of an InvestmentPromotion and Protection Agreement(IPPA) with Chobe, Commerce Trade andIndustry Minister, Felix Mutati, said thegovernment will continue to reform andimprove the business environment inorder to attract investment into the coun-

try.

The Minister said government was focus-ing on putting in place programmes thatwould support the growth of the private

sector. He said the government wouldfacilitate the promotion of an enabling environment through better infrastruc-

ture and reforms aimed at reducing thecost of doing business and not how toacquire licences. “To continuously attractinvestment, we have to put in measures

to ensure that the number of licences is

reduced,” he said.

And Chobe Agribusiness Limited Repre-sentative, Karima Ola said the companybelieves a Zambian commercial agricul-

tural model can establish a competitiveadvantage in Zambia through various

interventions. “We will integrate the agri-cultural model not just by investing in theprimary products, but will also be looking at investing in storage and processing,”she said. The company will also be focus-ing on infrastructure to make agriculture

work.

Ms Ola said the company decided to

invest in Zambia because of its agro eco-

logical setup, the proximity to water and

the linkage to the north-south transport

corridor. Chobe will employ 1,639 people

and will increase investment to over

U$250,000 in the next five years de-pending on the performance of the initial

project. The investments would cover five

primary production farms of 18,000 hec-

tares, silo and elevator business, milling

operation, soya extruding operation, fertil-

izer blending, among others.

Zambia’s Economic LandscapeBright

Three major economic stakeholdershave expressed satisfaction at the man-

ner the Zambian economy has fared thisyear and predicted that the countrywould record more positive economicperformance in 2010.

The Zambia Chamber of Commerce andIndustry (ZACCI), the Economics Associa-tion of Zambia (EAZ) and the ZambiaChamber of Small and Medium BusinessAssociation (ZCSMBA) were optimistic theZambian economy will attain the projectedgross domestic product (GDP) of more

than six per cent. ZACCI vice-presidentNorth Eddie Kapungulya said his organisation was happy that as a nation, Zambiahad managed to weather last year’s devas- tating effects of the global economic downturn.

Mr. Kapungulya said the macro-economickey performance indicators showed thatexchange rates had been stable so far. Hesaid inflation was going down and the GDPmay attain the projected revised rate of more than six per cent. He said the price of copper and other base metals were going up and that the price of fuel had beenstable generally. Such incentives may

stimulate the economic activities nextyear.

Mr. Kapungulya advised the private sectorin the country to look forward to improvedeconomic activities and diversify to enterinto export markets. Indigenous Zambiansshould venture into mining and attractdirect foreign investment (DFI). He alsosaid the private sector should partner withsmall Zambian companies to ably competewith foreign companies.

The EAZ said Zambia would record morepositive economic performance by the end

of 2009 than earlier anticipated and paid tribute to Government for mitigating theeffects of the global economic crisis. Asso-ciation president Mwilola Imakando said inan interview that the national economywas showing resilience and would performbetter than earlier anticipated.

Dr Imakando said the country would regis- ter a higher GDP growth rate than antici-pated while there were signs that the inflation rate would continue coming down. “Itlooks like the economy will end stronger than was anticipated. From our point of view we are headed for a better economy than was anticipated,” he said.

ZCSMBA Executive Secretary Maxwell Si-chula described 2009 as having been ayear of challenges but noted that all theeconomic institutions remained strong despite the negative effects.

Mr. Sichula said it was impressive to note that no Zambian financial institution wasclosed down as a result of the effects of global economic crunch while key industries continued operating. He said thesmall and medium scale entrepreneurswho were the most affected by the effectshad weathered the storm mainly due to the

quick recovery recorded as a result of themeasures the Government had put in

place. Times of Zambia

ISSUE 7 PAGE 5



6

Jimbe on the Angolan border.PPP Roads and Borders Coming

Government has embarked on severalPublic-Private Partnership projects onBuild-Operate transfer (BOT) basis toconstruct and rehabilitate the country’smajor roads and border posts to facili-tate trade in the COMESA and SADC

regions.

The improved road network and modern-ised border posts will boost communica- tion, economic and social life of the af-fected people in these communities. Ac-cording to the Ministry of Finance andNational Planning, the projects which arebeing undertaken by the PPP Unit areaimed at addressing current and antici-pated traffic congestion, traveling andwaiting time at the border posts and acci-dents on roads that link Zambia to other

countries.

The border posts to be constructed andrehabilitated include Mwami, Nakonde,Jimbe, Kipushi and Kazungula. Further, the

road network identified for rehabilitationand upgrading is the Chingola-Jimbe road that covers about 545.8 Kilometers from

Chingola – Solwezi – Mwinilunga to

Zambia Development Agency

Promoting Economic Growth

and Development

Zambia Development Agency

P.O Box 30819

Nasser Road

Lusaka, Zambia

Tel: 260-211-220177

Fax: 260-211-225270

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.zda.org.zm

to Jimbe on the Angolan border.

To commence the projects, the PPP Unitrecently invited reputable firms to apply forpre-qualification to rehabilitate, improveand up-grade the north bound road and the named border posts. The announce-ment was made in the local and international press. The border facilities will in-clude offices for the Zambia Revenue Au- thority Customs, Immigration, Zambia Po-

lice, Road Transport and Safety Agency(RTSA), and other relevant stakeholders at

the border crossing.

UNIDO Trains Enumerators

The United Nations Industrial Development

Organisation (UNIDO) has trained 23 enu-

merators to conduct the 2009/2010 In-

vestor Survey in Zambia, whose overall

objectives include analysing characteris-

tics of investors, their perceptions of the

Zambian business climate and the per-

formance and impact of their businesses

to the national economy. The training was

aimed at equipping enumerators with best

practises for data collection and an insight

into analytical tools that have been de-

signed for analysing the data for the sur-

vey. And Ministry of Commerce, Trade and

Industry (MCTI) Permanent Secretary, Dr.

Buleti Nsemukila said the enterprise level

information to be generated from the sur-

vey was vital for policy decision making,

investment strategy formulation and for

the provision of support systems to the

private sector in Zambia and beyond.

Speaking through MCTI Acting Director forPlanning and Information, Ms. Shelly Zulu,at the close of the training, Dr. Nsemukilasaid the survey had come at the right timewhen government was grappling with chal-lenges posed by globalisation, economicrecession, attraction of FDI, mobilisation of domestic investment and trying to encour-age the private sector to assume a leading role in driving economic growth and devel-opment.

Meanwhile, UNIDO trainer, Prof. JohnHenley said the data from the survey will

be used for the creation of an InvestmentMonitoring Platform that will support the

upgrading of domestic companies.

SELECTED ECONOMIC INDICATORS OCTOBER 2008 OCTOBER 2009

1. Inflation rate (%) 15.2 12.3

2. Average Treasury bills rate (%) 13.3 14.6

3. GRZ Bond Yield Rate: (24-month) (%) 15.8 17.8

4. Average Lending Rate (%) 26.7 29.65. Exchange Rates: (ZMK/foreign cur-

rency)

US$ 4,000 4,700

EURO 5,400 6,900

BPS 6,900 7,500

RSA 436 6006. Agriculture Commodity Prices:

(US$/MT)

Maize - -

Wheat - -

Soya beans - -

7. Capital Market ActivityEquity trading:

Number of Trades 413 448

Volume of Trade 28,654,000 29,377,000

Turnover (US$) 6,123,000 4,842,600

Foreign Portfolio Investment: (US$)

Inflows (Buying) (US$) 1,015,000 2,054,000

Outflows (Selling) (US$) (4,764,000) (2,126,000)Net Position (US$)

Source: BoZ, CSO,LuSE,Zamace

251,000 (72,031)

zda spotlight : november 2009

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