Zambian Economic Development

Homes And Hospices

2010-11-16T01:30:00.001+02:00

Homes and Hospices have become more prominent in Zambian urban society in the last two decades.

This development marks a shifting culture predominantly promoted by urbanization, westernization, and poverty. A catalyst to this rapidly developing phenomenon is the ravaging impact of HIV/AIDS on many families.

Not too long ago, Zambians would be upset by the thought of admitting their old age parents into a home, or depositing their young children into a home. The act of putting family into homes was at the time taken as an acknowledgement that parents were being abandoned in the care of strangers and outsiders, and young children were simply being given away.

In both cases, Zambians had the mindset that old age parents were the responsibility of their children in the same way that children were the responsibility of their parents. Above all, both children and parents were the responsibility of the wider society that they lived in.

A quotation from a famous Asian movie ‘Bagbhan’ (Caretaker or Gardener) roughly translates to: ‘Is it a crime for a parent that held their child’s hand when teaching the child to take the first three steps of life, to expect the same child to hold the parent’s hand when the parent is taking the last three steps of life?’

This very thought provoking metaphor challenges Zambian’s to touch base with culture and values that are passed on from one generation to the next.

Urbanization has contributed to the breakup of family values. Families have become more focused on the nuclear group of husband, wife, and biological children to the exclusion of all others. The demand for more income to cover the costs of better schools, nicer homes, bigger cars, and fancier clothes takes precedence over old aged parents and extended family. This results in parents being away all day at work while the children are brought up by maids, school authorities, and more prominently, television and peers.

The western way of life therefore is indoctrinated in the family values through continuous sublime programming passed on through the television screen. The opportunities for families to bond and share cultural values become fewer as television dictates and parents become busier each day.

The modern family therefore no longer considers old age parents as valuable custodians of culture and tradition that can be passed on to future generations, but labels them as financial and emotional burdens that need to be relegated to old age homes to be out of sight and out of mind.

Increasingly, Zambia’s old age homes are experiencing new residents that are being deposited by wealthy families that have the capacity to employ nurses and drivers to give their parents a more dignified final chapter of life if they so chose.

Hospices in Zambia have been propagated primarily by the HIV/AIDS pandemic that has devastated families across the nation.

The terminally ill have been delivered to hospices in an effort to provide a more comfortable and manageable environment in the last few months of their lives.

The rush to admit family members into hospices has been driven mainly by poverty. In the urban townships people are poor and do not have access to the resources to provide care and comfort to the terminally ill. A hospice becomes the default choice purely based on the lack of financial capacity to manage the sick.

It is no wonder that hospices are mushrooming in townships in the peri-urban areas where the facilities are most needed.

The lack of knowledge about HIV/AIDS and other terminal diseases motivates many families to detach themselves from the sick and take them to hospices. There is an appreciable amount of fear of contamination that families will have because of ignorance.

Terminal diseases such as HIV/AIDS will still stigmatize families today unlike cancer, tumours, and heart disease. The idea that HIV/AIDS could have been avoided if one conducted their lives sensibly continues to be a source of shame.

Hospices are therefore predominantly populated by HIV/AIDS patients to keep the perceived shame out of the house as opposed to the difficultly in managing a terminally ill person. Many of the cancer and other terminal diseases patients continue to live at home with bouts of hospitalization until they finally die.

It is about time that culture and tradition are brought back into the equation of caring for the sick and elderly. Our parents and families remain our flesh and blood irrespective of their age or illness. Caring for the old and dying is as natural as caring for our new born children.

The clear message is that the measure that we put into caring for our old and sick, is the same measure or worse, that our children will put in place in caring for us when we are old and sick.

Our future generations are learning by television, and where we make and effort, they learn by how we look after our own parents and families.

Published 16 November 2010

Mozambique Corridor

2010-08-31T21:41:00.001+02:00

The recent opening of the Chipata-Mchinji railway link opens up some new and exciting opportunities for the private sector players in the three three affected countries namely; Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.

Although the Chipata-Mchinji railway link is only 24 kilometres long, it provides connectivity into the Malawi railway network and further connects Zambia to the northern Mozambique railway network.

The Malawi railway network runs for 797 kilometres from Mchinji in the north to Nsanje in the south. Midway between Salima and Blantyre the railway line forks to the east and heads into Mozambique via the town of Cuamba. The Malawi railway network touches Lilongwe, Salima and Senga along Lake Malawi, and Blantyre the commercial capital. There are no railway lines in the northern part of Malawi.

In Mozambique, the railway system is generally confined to the northern part of the country. The Cuamba line coming in from Malawi runs about 900 kilometres from the Malawi border at Entre Lagos to the port of Nacala on the Indian Ocean. On route is the major town of Nampula and the seaside town of Lumbo.

The railway line from Nsanje in Malawi enters Mo

zambique via the junction town of Vila de Sena where the railway system then goes up north and down south. In the northern direction the railway extends for about 300 kilometres to Vila Moatize very close the Tete the provincial capital of Tete province. Tete is only about 150 kilometres from the Cahora Bassa dam. Towards the south, the line runs for about 400 kilometres from Vila de Sena to the port city of Beira via Inhaminga. Interestingly though, Vila de Sena is also located on the banks of the Zambezi river that pours out of the Cahora Bassa dam and heads south east to the Indian Ocean. This offers an option for river barges and other marine vessels to transport goods and people to and from the ocean along the Zambezi river.

The Chipata-Mchinji railway link therefore offers railway and marine transportation links to the port of Nacala, to the central and northern parts of Mozambique, to the Zambezi Delta midway between Beira and Quelimane, and to the port of Beira.

The options for cross border trade and more substantial exports and imports are now much wider for Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.

Zambia’s access to the railway and waterway networks of Malawi and Mozambique should trigger some new ideas for business and trade as all three countries sign up to the COMESA Customs Union and are challenged to be more productive, more efficient, and open up more opportunities.

Currently the port of Nacala exports sugar, tobacco, peas and tea to the rest of the world. This port handles imports fertilizer, oil based fuels, and containerised shipments. A passenger service currently runs thrice per week ferry people from Blantyre in Malawi to and from the port of Nacala.

The rail line from Moatize to Beira has focussed on transporting coal fro the mines in the Tete province for export across the Indian Ocean.

The private sector in Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique now have the option to use the Nacala Corridor and Beira route to spread regional trade in the Growth Triangle formed by the three countries.

Key opportunities lie in the movement of bulk products such as cement, mealie meal, and other processed dry foods.

The motivation for Zambia to extend the railway line from Chipata to Petauke and then through to join the Tazara railway network at Serenje becomes more interesting as an effort to remove the road transportation from the rest of Zambia to Chipata. This 300 kilometre railway line will integrate the Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, and Zambia railway networks.

The net result will be that big trucks will no longer be the best way of transporting goods across the country because the railway system will do a better job and much cheaper.

The Zambian government has considered a project to build a dry port in Chipata as mechanism for storage of goods that are either to be exported or for goods to be imported. It is imperative that this infrastructure is built as soon as possible to support, promote, and facilitate trade via this new railway linkage.

It is quite clear that competition leads to lower prices and high levels of efficiencies. To this end, it is important for Zambia to have as many routes to the oceans as possible to generate the necessary competition amongst bulk cargo movers such that the exporter or importer gets the best deal. Goods will move across the region efficiently and at affordable costs as the transport infrastructure is developed.

This new door to the ocean adds to the competition amongst our traditional routes wherein Dar-es-Salaam competes with Durban and Walvis Bay. The addition of the ports of Nacala and Beria intensifies the completion in respect to costs, efficiencies, safety, and accessibility.

This philosophy is embraced in the North South Corridor that aims to develop a communication and trade infrastructure network along the Great Rift Valley and beyond. The goal of this program is to foster regional integration which brings about social and economic connectivity amongst neighbouring countries.

The private sector in Zambia is now challenged to take advantage of the new route to the south east coast of Africa and prevent the Chipata-Mchinji railway link from becoming the proverbial White Elephant project that has been the fate of many regional collaboration initiatives.

Published 31 August 2010

Investment And Development

2010-08-24T23:50:00.005+02:00

Recent reports from the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry highlight that Zambia’s Foreign Direct Investment will exceed USD3 billion by this year end.

It is quite evident that much for this expectation is targeted for the capital hungry mining industry with some measurable investments possibly going to the manufacturing and tourism sectors.

Many of our investment targets are based on memorandums of understanding or pledges made by prospective investors during our international marketing endeavours.

The only substantive investments that can be reliably reported on, are those that have actually taken place.

It is commendable that Zambia has now acknowledged the need to focus on private sector business development through the initiatives to develop One-Stop-Shop Customs units at the strategic borders of Kasumbalesa, Nakonde, and Kasangula.

Socio-Economic infrastructure which includes new bridges at border crossings and improved roads to facilitate investment and trade, are high on the government agenda.

The weakness in our economic development model is anchored on the sidelining of the SME sector, and the lack of acknowledgement of human resources as a tradable and marketable commodity.

Zambia is challenged to link the foreign direct investments to domestic businesses so that some form of equity in development is established to create a balance between foreign investment and local investment. This goes a long way to ensure sustainable business activity during the good times, and the bad times.

Zambia is also challenged to support and facilitate the SME sector to grow and engage with every part of the economy as is the case in most developed and developing economies.

Zambia is further challenged to re-consider our philosophy in respect to the value and role of human resources as an investment in national development.

Zambia is too pre-occupied with negative clichés such as ‘brain drain’ and ‘capital flight’ and is beginning to lose the ability to see the opportunities at our doorsteps which include the COMESA Customs Union, and alternate trading partners that are more in line with our own development agenda.

Discussions on the global economic status often categorize the world into several major camps.

The developed west is branded as sophisticated, technologically advanced, and possess the highest quality of human resources in the world.

The Asian continent is often labelled semi-sophisticated, over populated with low quality of human resources, and prone to natural disasters.

South America is painted as sub continent with vast natural resources, poor governance, wide spread corruption, and low quality human resources.

Africa is the continent that is still indirectly managed by past colonial rulers, possesses vast natural resources, has the poorest human resources on the planet, and is open for exploitation by all and sundry.

The Asian continent, and more specifically China, has turned these perceptions upside down as they do not subscribe to labels that undermine their social and economic development.

As a consequence, Asia and China in particular, have continued to attract investment and have developed exponentially to the level whereby Asia is the most productive continent on the planet.

China has even gone further to acknowledge that her vast population is just as important a resource as oil, gold, diamonds, or copper. The question is how does China exploit this resource in the global trading system?

While Zambia jealously takes stock of our mineral resources and the Western world tabulates the power of its technology and knowledge, China has acknowledged its over one billion citizens as an evolving resource that responds to the changing demands of the world.

This may be the one philosophy that accounts for China rising up to be the world’s top producer, the world’s biggest depositor of disposable foreign reserves, and the world’s most productive country.

As the rest of the world looks to bigger spending budgets at the personal level, China strategizes to be a producer of the cheapest labour on the planet. This strategy ensures that China stays ahead of the competition when it comes to production of goods and services because the cost of labour is kept as low as possible.

This is an interesting concept because the rest of the world looks to improving the lot for employees by ever increasing salary scales. This has led to the current scenario whereby most of the large conglomerates of the world have now moved their production bases to Asia so as to avoid high salaries and to increase profitability due to the low wages paid in developing economies.

The mechanism has actually played into the China development agenda very profitably. Low wages and a billion citizens has been one of the most productive elements of the national development program. With the addition of some FDI incentives, China has managed to rake in a huge amount of sustainable investments from the West and stands today as the fastest developing economy of the world.

The method in the madness of China’s cheap labour includes the government efforts to ensure that the cost of living goes down successively thereby having the same impact on employees as that of salaries going up. The major difference is that the cost of production remains low as the wage bill does not increase, and the cost of food, transport, and shelter goes down.

As long as China will consider her people as resources that give the country a comparative and competitive advantage, the social and economic future of the country is well set.

Zambia hosts a nation of capable people with potential to be human resources that can propel the country into prosperity. It is necessary to take stock and chart a strategy that encompasses the SME sector and the people as resources that have a useful role to play in delivering investment and development in the nation.

Published 24 August 2010

Sweet Surrender

2010-08-17T21:20:00.002+02:00

Zambia is at it again with efforts to woo investors from Asia.

Last week we noted that a company from India was quite keen to invest in the sugar industry in Zambia. The company is targeting the Nansanga farming block which was created years ago to facilitate the agriculture investments as detailed in the Fifth National Development Plan.

It is true that the big investors already on the ground in the sugar industry may have the muscle to churn out huge stocks of sugar so as to not only satisfy the local market, but to also export to the region. This does not in any way guarantee market dominance when new investors come into the sugar sector with the right quantity, quality, and price.

Studies show that customers are driven by better prices rather than marketing gibberish.

Competition is healthy and works in the best interests of consumers. We have seen how the hospitality sector has developed over the years such that in Lusaka one can find guest house accommodation from as low as K100,000 to a high of K500,000 per night. This phenomenon is driven by wide active competition and the same can be realized for sugar too. Let the competition grow and let the quality improve while prices come down.

This clarion call also goes to Agriculture Minister Peter Daka who has spent some time in Beijing at the China-Africa Agriculture forum where he solicited for investment in the Zambian agriculture sector.

Much of the marketing in agriculture has been to attract investment in food production through framing activities targeted on maize and other cash crops. Food processing is the next logical step in order to preserve the national production. Zambia may have done very well with sugar and maize meal, but the nation needs much more food crops to be processed and packaged to ensure food security throughout the year.

China underlines food security and food availability to her people as a national priority. This top of the agenda priority has been the bedrock on which China then launched the Industrial Revolution that developed the country to become the world’s largest producer of goods within 50 years. Statistics indicate that China tops the world production in poultry, pork, and rice. Interestingly though, is that China processes and consumes all the poultry, pork and rice that she produces in an effort to provide adequate and affordable food to the mass population.

The China experience is a good lesson for Zambia and the region. Zambia can take advantage of her centralized geographical location and grow more food to not only feed the nation, but to export to the region as is evidenced by the vibrant sugar industry.

Opportunities exist for the mass production of ground nuts that can be exported in raw form and as finished products. The range of products includes peanut butter, oil, sweets, roasted nuts, and a host of ground nut food products.

Other crops include Soya Bean, Cashew Nuts, and Cassava. All of these crops can be cultivated on large tracts of land and harvested for processing into various food products and animal feed stocks.

Cassava has the potential of being processed into more than twenty different food products that range from cakes and biscuits, to chips and cereals. Evidence of Cassava products in the daily diet can be seen in Brazil and other South American countries where cassava has been cultivated for hundreds of years.

Zambia is blessed with seasonal fruit crops that include Mangoes, Guavas, and Pineapples. There are options for producing these fruits in large quantities and processing them into either fresh fruit products or dried fruit products for export to the regional markets.

Zambia has grown mangoes for decades if not centuries, and still we note that imports of dried mangoes are coming into the country every day until we are able to process our own fruit to supply our own markets.

It is therefore true to conclude that the regional markets are open for marketing our food products even though many countries in the region may grow some of the fruit and other products produced in Zambia. The determining factors are quantity, quality, and processing capacity. These factors decide whether a country has the capacity to supply itself with food products or if they have to import from another country.

The sugar challenge may be the tip of the agriculture and food processing ice berg. Beneath this discussion lie the many opportunities and options that can unlock potential in the nation to rapidly support economic development as has been the case in China and other South East Asian countries.

What may seem as a trivial challenge to new investors in the sugar sector, could be the catalyst for agricultural expansion and food production at unprecedented levels that would tilt the country profile away from fighting hunger and address the nation to the challenge of economic growth that puts the private sector in the forefront of wealth creation and the opening up of new jobs across the nation.

Keeping the population well fed and healthy is a pre-requisite for economic development. The sugar story should be the flag off for competitive investment in all types of food production. One hopes to see the day when the current big players will throw their hands up in sweet surrender as they lose their dominance of traditional markets. The signs are already there. New players are strategically positioning themselves to take on the dominant heavyweights. Complacency will cost existing companies dearly. Proactive re-positioning will be the best route as the inevitable surge of new competition gears itself to challenge the status quo.

Published 17 August 2010

Ambuya One Year Gone Today

2010-08-16T20:15:00.005+02:00

Ambuya (Grandma) died peacefully in her sleep on the morning of 16 August 2009.

It was when they carried her body out of her room and into the hearse that I knew that, in this life, I would never see her again. She was gone forever. As the hearse disappeared into the driveway, I noticed the trees swaying in the wind and I recalled how she used to talk about the wind. She would lie in her bed by the window and listen to the breeze. She'd look out the window and watch the swaying trees and whisper, "God is here..." I used to look out with her and, of course, never saw anything but swaying trees. Today I understood.

Today I walked out and retraced the path her and I used to take for her to show me what leaves and berries we could and could not eat.

The bushes were there no more. I stared out where we used to walk and, perhaps, hoped to see her but there was simply lifeless, dull, dry grass and weeds. The wind was blowing so loud! Louder than usual, I thought. I couldn't think. I shut my eyes to pray and it was then, at that moment, that I heard The Celebration. This was not noise! This was not the bewailing of the wind! This was a fanfare! This was an ovation!

I opened my eyes and noticed the dancing white cattails scattered across the field. I noticed the tall, dark green tree in the distance waltzing with the brilliant purple bourgainvillea that had cradled into its midst. I noticed the tall grass frolicking to the music that the heavens composed. And I noticed the tree that she watched from her window that participated in this grand symphony by rustling its lyrical leaves. I could hear what she heard and I understood.

Khalil Gibran once said that the trees are the poems that the earth writes upon the sky...today I heard an ochestra. Khalil Gibran once said :

For what is it to die but to stand naked in the wind and to melt into the sun?
And what is it to cease breathing, but to free the breath from its restless tides,

that it may rise and expand and seek God unencumbered?

Only when you drink from the river of silence shall you indeed sing.
And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.
And when the earth shall claim your limbs, then shall you truly dance.

It was then that I understood that Ambuya never really left ...she was there the whole time.

Candy Morrell (Great Grand Daughter)

Heading AGOA

2010-08-10T18:00:00.001+02:00

Ten years after the African Growth Opportunity Act was enacted, Zambia has stepped in to take over the AGOA Forum chairmanship for the next twelve months.
The Kenya Minister of Trade Amos Kimunya passed on the chairmanship to Zambia Commerce Trade and Industry Minister Felix Mutati in Washington DC recently.
Mr Mutati in his usual orator’s speech highlighted the importance of AGOA in promoting trade and economic development in sub-Saharan Africa. He went on further to emphasize the opportunities presented by the United States of America markets, where good financial returns could be made as Africa experiences positive growth.
In his never ending effort to market Zambia, Mr Mutati made reference to the abundant raw materials and minerals that Africa possesses, the cost effective labour force, the reduction in corruption, the introduction of business reforms, and the stable macro economic environment.
There is much ceremony and pomp at these occasions and we seldom see the subtle positioning of our trade partners to drive the processes to achieve their own desired goals.
The AGOA discussions on ‘New Strategies for Expanding US sub-Saharan African Trade’ was not developed by African countries endeavoring to trade with the USA. The topic and theme were the brainchild of the American civil service to ensure that the USA gets the best deal from the dialogue.
It is not a bad thing to do. We must remember however, that it was an engagement for the benefit of the USA and not necessarily for Africa or Zambia in particular.
It is said that the goal of the annual AGOA forum is to expand trade and investment with the USA, to review the implementation of the AGOA program, and to explore new ways to enhance trade across the Atlantic.
It goes without saying that the USA dialogue teams at the AGOA forum were adequately supported by their private sector representatives that put their trade agenda for Africa on the table to be discussed and negotiated with our government representatives.
The question is; did we do the same? Did Mr Mutati take with him a dossier of private sector concerns and positions that he needed to place on the discussion table? Did he take a team of private sector advisors to keep him on target?
If he did, then Zambia is on the right path and can use the AGOA route to enhance trade with the USA in a manner that will grow the domestic economy and provide opportunities to the Zambian private sector.
If he did not, then we will have yet again played into the hands of the smarter and more organized west that always takes advantage of our weakness in collaborating, partnering, and co-operating when it comes to tackling the outside world.
This may even be true of the African Ministerial Consultative Group meeting that took place in Washington DC. After all the meeting was in the USA, on USA terms, and hosted by the USA. We all know about the old saying that goes ‘He who pays the piper calls the tune’.
Did we consult on issues that we are concerned about? Did we bring out the statistics on how AGOA has not worked for us so far? Did we share experiences and try to assess what the failure root causes have been? Did we have a chance to openly brain storm and innovate some good ideas on how we can make AGOA work for our individual countries? I suspect not.
Zambia’s Ambassador to the USA Ms Shiela Siwela coined the event quite well when she noted that the AGOA forum could be used as a platform for the Zambian delegation to engage with American decision makers and their private sector in developing productive business networks.
The media reports indicate that Mr Mutati was the driver of the AGOA forum for Zambia, but no mention is made of the private sector voices that may have been present, and may have had something useful to contribute towards making AGOA work for Zambia.
It is typical for developing economies including Zambia to invest in the politicking, posturing, and signing ceremonies as an end in itself, and leave the real business of doing business out of the equation.
This tongue twisting and unproductive priority setting situation often leaves Zambia on the side lines waiting for something positive to happen by default, rather than spurring the economy ahead with a well developed and articulated response and implementation program that has the full backing of the private sector and the various government organs.
Now that Zambia is in the chair, we may be smart to peer review ourselves with outgoing chair Kenya, and possiblyUganda, to measure our AGOA successes over the next twelve months.
Accepting the AGOA chair has a momentary glory at the hand over ceremony when the spotlight is on Zambia. The 2010 to 2011 AGOA season can either be considered as an opportunity to propel Zambia into substantial trade with the USA, or it can be a waiting period that assures us of being invited to yet another AGOA forum where we joyously exhibit that we have survived the year and finally hand over to a new chair.
The Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry have now taken on the new responsibility of deciding what to do with AGOA. The private sector is now aware of Zambia’s special position of sitting in the AGOA chair. We all anticipate that there will be exaggerated interaction and engagement between government and the private sector, even if only to avoid media reports next year that will hold us all accountable for any failures in AGOA when the program was tightly set in our hands.
Published 10 August 2010

ADB Steps In

2010-08-03T23:14:00.001+02:00

This week the African Development Bank wraps up a mission visit to Zambia that paid special emphasis on enhancing the ADB’s support strategy for Zambia.

The private sector in Zambia put their cards on the table by highlighting the various barriers to doing business that were a consequence of the high cost of accessing funding, inconsistent domestic economic development policies, poor infrastructure, high energy costs, and insufficient skilled human resources.

The private sector bemoaned the wide gap between the inflation rate which is currently running at around 8 per cent, and the bank lending rates which hover between 25 percent and 30 percent. This leaves hefty margins for financial institutions but seriously hampers the growth of the private sector, because the cost of borrowing becomes too high for most investments beyond trading.

The private sector lamented the current scenario whereby Zambia produces excess maize, wheat, milk, and soya bean that ensures food security for the country, but there are difficulties in exporting excess food without government authority. This becomes a disincentive to grow more food as the glut brings down commodity prices and farmers face losses which forces them not to grow as much food in subsequent years. The private sector noted that a mechanism must be urgently put in place to address this challenge.

It was highlighted that even though Zambia was embarking on the Multi Facility Economic Zones program, not much emphasis was being made to attract domestic investors to participate in the program as is evidenced by the lack of marketing within the country.

The private sector noted that the ADB set a threshold of USD10 million for direct lending to the private sector, and any figures below this threshold would have to be accessed through local partner commercial banks which have been given a line of credit for this purpose.

The private sector were interested to see a progress report from partner commercial banks that would be able to provide data on how successful the initiative has been so far, taking into account historical lessons of similar programs that did not yield the desired results.

The ADB recognised that a country such as Zambia required the development of good infrastructure which includes wide spread railway systems, roads, water and sanitation, and telecommunications, in order for the country to enhance economic and productive activity.

The ADB alluded to the low levels of skilled human resources in the country which need to be addressed as part of the development agenda for Zambia. Private sector comments noted that investments in various businesses and industries will drive the demand for specific skilled human resources that would fill the required gap. To this end, public institutions which include the Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurial Training Authority, and other private sector investors in education were encouraged to keep a close eye on industry needs and trends, to be able to respond to the evolving demands of a developing economy.

The ADB reported that Zambia was not taking much advantage of the opportunities that the ADB offers to developing economies, and urged the private sector to engage them through their Zambia office so that Zambian based companies could benefit from the various products that are available through the ADB.

It was jointly acknowledged that when the COMESA Customs Union and indeed any other regional economic endeavour is implemented, some new challenges will immediately emerge which include access to wider markets, quality assurances, business barriers, and access to various developmental resources, including inexpensive financing.

The ADB operating in its capacity as a regional development bank highlighted that they were not a commercial bank but recognised the need for the banking sector to be more proactive in supporting the private sector. To this end, the ADB was requested to consider its partnership arrangements with commercial banks in an effort to channel more money into local businesses at the SME levels, which with time, should grow into large businesses that can then engage with the ADB on a direct basis.

Some of the current challenges for the Zambian private sector in respect to ADB funding, include broadening the scope of business projects to cover regional demands and markets. This re-focussing suggests that larger projects become more meaningful to service the bigger regional markets, and therefore qualify for direct funding from the ADB.

Opportunities exist in the education sector, health sector, agro processing sector, manufacturing sector, tourism sector, mining sector, transport sector, and services sector to name but a few. The ADB can be the financier of fairly large business initiatives that will rapidly grow the economy, create more jobs, compete favourably in the regional markets, and offer options for export out of the African continent.

As it has been made clear that the Zambian private sector has been shy to take advantage of the ADB products. The ADB mission to Zambia should be considered as a wake-up call for local businesses to take advantage of ADB products for the purposes of building their businesses to the next level, that will no doubt stimulate and motivate the commercial banks to step up their game and offer similar or better services to the private sector.

The ADB may have an office in Zambia with the aim of supporting Zambia on its development agenda, but it cannot force the private sector to take advantage of its services. The ADB may have a web site at www.afdb.org but cannot make our private sector visit it for information and details.

The opportunities are there. The ADB is in Zambia. All that remains is for the private sector to access the bank and put individual cases on the discussion table for consideration.

There is an old saying that goes ‘you can find a tree full of ripe fruit, but you have to climb the tree to eat the fruit’. This is the scenario in respect to the ADB in Zambia.

Published 3 August 2010

Making History

2010-07-27T23:06:00.002+02:00

Where does history come from? Who writes it? Why is it written?

These questions are important because they challenge the reader to reflect on pertinent points about making history.

Making history is traditionally done through oral practice whereby the lived experiences of one generation are passed on to the next generation through stories around the wood fire. In modern times making history is done through written books, audio recordings, and video documentaries. The medium used is generally for the convenience of the moment.

A large amount of history is accounted for by visitors and researchers to a specific place or event of significance to the history maker.

It must be acknowledged that making history is a combination of various mechanisms which include experienced facts, the writer’s perspective, some deductions, various extrapolations, and even a fair amount of hearsay.

It is these different methodologies that often challenge us to question the historical accounts that are captured in our various forms of history making and history capturing efforts.

If one considers the different accounts of two people that were bystanders witnessing a motor vehicle accident, one can easily conclude that much of our documented history is part fact and part perspective. Perspective is usually influenced by attitude, expectations, and internal fears and concerns. Perspective therefore shapes and becomes a major part of making history.

Africa is considered to be one of the largest continents on the planet with more than 3,000 kilometres of the equator, and yet history tells us that most plants, fruit, and flora were imported into the continent from the Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Basic common sense challenges these historical assertions and suggests that the history making about Africa has been largely perceptions rather than facts.

Political history making is much a matter of informing the next generation with information that should help them navigate through life both economically and socially. Historical accounts of the freedom struggles in Africa have been captured as acts of terrorism and barbarianism until recently when many African countries have demanded a re-write to represent the facts more truthfully. The history books before the release of the Iconic Madiba; Nelson Mandela of South Africa, branded him as a terrorist and trouble maker, but post 1994 historians now refer to him as the shining star of Africa and the light of humanity in the modern world.

Making history is a very important responsibility that will influence and fuel the attitudes of the next generation.

Manipulations and distortions of historical events and accounts can build a fragile, ineffective, and conflict ridden society of the present and future.

It for this reason that making history must be carefully challenged to account for the past as truthfully as possible, and more so, must be accounted for by people of the land in which the history is being made.

Today history plays a big role in decision making on a day-to-day basis. Books and publications are often embraced as fact. The internet has become the most recent reference for many researchers and writers. The visual and oral recordings that are beamed to us through radio and television, program us with perspectives and beliefs that re-model our minds every day.

If the content is biased towards destroying our abilities to develop ourselves then we are no better than drug addicts that are driven by some poisonous fluid in their blood stream and in their minds.

Making history is part of the foundation of economic and social growth. It must be corroborated with other sources, it must be tested against multiple accounts, and where possible, it must be exposed to scientific analysis and evidence.

Today because of biased history, Africans are branded to be lazy, Africans are labeled as corrupt, Africans are criminalized as war mongerers, Africans are considered to be incapable of planning ahead, and Africans are deemed to be under developed.

How can the next generation hope to climb out of poverty and social inequality with all these negative labels that are placed on them? Too often the fight is lost even before it has begun.

Africa’s achievements are mostly physical. Africa has vast mineral resources. Africa has huge tracts of arable lands. Africa has the world’s best long distance runners. Africa has the world’s best climates. Africa has open spaces. Africa has vast bushes and jungles for tourism. Africa is open for investment.

The physical features of Africa are mainly marketed to either indicate the lack of development, or to show case the great opportunities that are available for the developed world. Very little is written about the values of culture and tradition. There are fewer accounts of the mental well being of Africans as evidenced by the lower occurrences of mental diseases on the continent.

Africa must begin to write its own history and take into account the wills and aspirations of the local people that make up the lived history. Africa must account for the negative experiences, but must also shout out the achievements and successes of yesteryears. Africa must recognize that history is the fuel that propels the development engine of tomorrow and therefore must ensure that it does the job right and efficiently.

History is written by intellectuals and idiots alike. There are no restrictions. This brief account on making history is already becoming a part of Zambia’s and Africa’s history. For the writer, it will have already been catalogued and archived for others to refer to even before the text is brought to press.

Published 27 July 2010

Mindset

2010-07-20T00:03:00.001+02:00

What does Mind Set mean? In the Merriam Webster’s on-line dictionary it is defined as ‘a mental attitude or inclination’ or, ‘a fixed state of mind’. In simple English this translates to ‘a set way of thinking’.

An interesting question one might ask is; ‘what or who decides what mind set we should adopt?’ The answer is not so easy to pin point because there may be many influences that come into play to develop a mind set within a person or group of people.

One wonders what the value of mind set is to economic development in any country. Zambia’s urban youth today want fast money, fast cars, fast life, fast food, and multiple personalities. This is probably true for the youth of many countries across the world.

Experiences during a visit to China and India highlight some telling insights into mind sets that have current and future impacts on economic development in these two countries.

The Shenzhen China youth encounter showed a young woman that was very focused on being the best employee that she could be and desirous of owning a house one day and getting married to start a family at some point in life. Her only ambitions of travel were to visit Beijing, and possibly Singapore and Hong Kong. She was proud to eat Chinese food, loved cosmetics and make up, and had extensive knowledge of China’s history. The young woman would constantly inquire whether her visitors wanted to eat a hamburger or wanted to drink a coke. She was trying to make them feel at home.

The Hyderabad India youth encounter revealed a young man that started the discussion by proudly informing his visitor that India no longer imported the Mercedes Benz motor vehicles but now manufactured them in India. In addition he shared that he would like to visit the USA and Europe at the first chance given to him. He noted that he would like to buy a house in the West to support his children when they would need to go for university education outside of India. The young man’s historical high points were the ousting of the British from India, and the Partition between India and Pakistan in 1947. The meeting with the young man was in a coffee house of the likes of Starbucks or Café Coffee Day.

Clearly there were some distinct differences in mind set between these two youths who were both in their mid twenties and were university graduates. It is acknowledged that the comparison is between man and woman, and that there may be other defining characteristics that need to be taken into account, but in some way these two people highlighted some stark similarities and some major differences.

The similarities are that both China and India are developing countries hosting populations of over one billion people with many citizens scratching the earth for a living. The differences are that China is more inward looking while India is more outward looking in respect to life styles and aspirations.
There appears to be more in common between China and the USA which are both inward looking, rather than China and the developing world that is pre-occupied with external influences.

What are some of the possible pressures and influences that are willingly embraced by people across the globe that fashion our mind sets?

In the very early stages of life children are sent off to school to become educated. The content of school curricula is one of the biggest mind set designers. Schools teach that truth is white while death is black. Teachers say an apple a day keeps the doctor away. The text books preach that developing countries have tribes while the developed world has nations. Africans eat bugs while Westerners eat crustaceans – a sophisticated word for both sea bugs and land bugs.

Colonial education has a sublime programming that covertly influences the mind set of the developing world to become one which is unconfident, seeks to emulate the West, is embarrassed of culture and tradition, and is self centred.

This education is further supplemented by the mass media programming of life styles through radio, television, the internet, and the print media. Radio, internet, and satellite television are intrusive and know no boundaries.

Over the last one hundred years, developing countries have embraced a mind set that favours the outsider instead of the insider. The mind set has promoted immediate lavish luxury life styles instead of hard earned stable futures for all. Our mind sets have compelled us to throw out our local languages which carry traditions and cultures, and we have adopted the uncultured medium of English from primary school to university. Children now prefer to become a rap star that has done jail time instead of a teacher, doctor, or policeman who serve the community. Elders aim at short term gains to feed their families and provide a comfortable life for the near future, and leave the plight of the next generation to chance and hope.

The mind set that dominates the developing world is self destructive and plays into the hands of the developed countries who sit at the side lines to pick up the spoils after we have destroyed ourselves.

The mind set that believes that your economic adversary will play fair and assist you to overcome them is a brain exercise in futility.

The mind set that looks for others to clean up your economy and put in on the right track is like throwing your child to the Hyena in the hope that it will feed him or her.

The mind set that measures progress by the clothes, car, food, and language that we speak is one that concretizes our dependency on egotistical benchmarks that do not improve the lives of the vast majority who are our children, relatives, and friends.

The mind set that sits in the comfort of a privileged job or position while advising others to tighten up their belts and fend for themselves, creates elite classes that add nothing to the economic development of the country.

Zambia needs to see a mind set that chooses to be African and Zambian in very respect so that a confident nation can emerge that recognizes its values and can engage with the world knowing where it is coming from, where it is now, and where it is going.

We need to have a mind set that believes in supporting our own people and will facilitate and promote domestic economic growth and capacity.

Zambia must inculcate a mind set that strategically and selectively chooses which social economic international and regional battles to fight so that the benefits can accrue to the local citizenry.

A mind set that will work for Africa and more specifically for Zambia is one that will bring social and economic development to the majority of the people with time. The indication of a positive mind set in Zambia will clearly be measured by the achievements of the next generation.

Published 20 July 2010

Teamwork

2010-07-13T20:27:00.002+02:00

As the World Cup season comes to an end many countries go back home to develop new strategies to take to Brazil in 2014 in the hope of winning the prestigious trophy in yet another encounter.

Beyond individual effort and talent, the one characteristic of a winning strategy that has never failed any successful nation, is good teamwork.

Teamwork has proved itself as the winning formula in all team sports and is also applicable to governance, national development, building an economy, and running a successful company.

The United States employed team work to develop a federation of various states such that during the Second World War it emerged as the world’s first super power. China pooled its industrial capacity over the last four decades to become the world’s most efficient producer of finished goods thereby growing into the largest exporter on the planet. The European Union attracted the majority of European countries to come together to team up in economic development. The Latin economies of South America have recently regrouped to build capacity together to develop the sub continent. In Africa, several initiatives have emerged through ECOWAS, SADC, COMESA, SACU, EAC and others, to form economic and political blocks that should work together to achieve common goals.

On the domestic front, there has not been very active teamwork within the private sector to engage with government and other parties to achieve economic growth.

The private sector has many sector specific business organizations that pursue sector specific goals with very little dialogue across the various sectors.

Not much discussion and debate has gone towards developing common positions and agendas on cross cutting issues that impact on every sector of economic activity.

Typical examples are; the impact of the COMESA Customs Union on Zambia’s business environment, the value and use of statutory government agencies in economic development, the challenges faced by the private sector in securing quality banking and financial services, the opportunities available to Zambian businesses emerging from State visits to other countries, the opportunities presented to Zambia through visiting business delegations, to name but a few.

As the world becomes less complex to navigate and the competition becomes more challenging, the private sector is compelled to exhibit more teamwork in order to develop the necessary muscle to persuade government on policy development, and to engage with the outside world more formidably.

Forums for developing teamwork should be set up immediately such that all independent thinking on the various development issues can be brought to the table and discussed in an effort to arrive at a meaningful decision on the way forward.

To this end, a COMESA Customs Union Forum should be launched to bring all the stakeholders in the country together in true teamwork spirit. The dialogue will not only inform government on the finer points challenging the nation, but will also assist the private sector to prepare themselves to engage with the rest of the region in business activity. The Customs Union is currently Zambia’s imminent challenge and therefore deserves to be top of the agenda.

The launch of a single start up Forum will no doubt raise enough issues for other forums to be launched, with a net result of broad consultation and wide input into most decision making processes that affect private sector development and regional integration initiatives.

The teamwork approach is the most inclusive and consistent manner of tackling the many problems and challenges that face most developing economies. Governments employ this mechanism in the Budget Building process and other multi-Ministry initiatives. The private sector should be in the forefront of championing this process far beyond current practices, if Zambia is to move forward aggressively with the agenda of building and broadening the economy.

The 2010 World Cup in many ways describes the attributes of teamwork. During the World Cup, Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and other giants of the Premier League, all team up together to form England. This is the same for all other nations in the tournament where individual clubs elevate their status to that of national representation.

As Zambia prepares to engage with Brazil in the aftermath of the state visit to Zambia of Brazil President Lula, the private sector must be better organized to extract the benefits of the numerous agreements signed. This is the time to research Brazil extensively and select the options that Zambia would like to follow up with a view to finally developing an engagement plan.

During each year several business delegations travel to different parts of the world in search of business opportunities for Zambian companies. Much more effort must be put in to ensure that the delegations do not end their initiatives with a refreshing holiday, but that each delegation brings home options and opportunities for many Zambians to build the country through improved production of goods and services.

The teamwork spirit must be rekindled. The blueprints for teamwork are already in our systems through the Chambers of Commerce and other similar institutions. The opportunities are open to Zambia if strategies are devised to encompass the majority of private sector players.

It is ironic that a country such as Zambia which is endowed with vast resources, fantastic weather conditions, a pleasant disposition of people, and yet registers as one of the poor nations of the planet.

Published 13 July 2010

Governance And Leadership

2010-07-06T20:20:00.001+02:00

The draft National Constitution is now out and open to the public for consideration and comment. The development and spirit of any constitution is expected to be; ‘by the people and for the people’.

This may be a guiding principle for all those that have decided to take an interest in the most important guiding document for the social and economic well being of the Zambian people.

The fundamental issues that one might want to consider are; the separation of powers of the three arms of governance, accountability, equity of all stakeholders, and leadership.

These principles also apply to most endeavours in our lives including business and building a robust and sustainable economy.

Interestingly, the draft Constitution has come to the public in print form and one hopes that as promised by the National Constitution Conference chair, it will soon be posted on the various web sites prescribed. Access to the draft Constitution is a basic vehicle for public equity in the Constitution making process.

The draft Constitution contains many provisions to hold the Head of State accountable to the Legislature on behalf of the people, with several mechanisms or the removal of an erring President.

These provisions try to ensure that the Head of State does not plunge the country into chaos in the event that his or her capacity to serve the people is impaired.

The powers of the Head of State hold the Executive, including the Vice President, accountable to the office of the President, and provide protection for the people from a destructive member of the Government machinery. The appointment and removal of top political Government officials by the President ensures accountability, only if managed appropriately.

The rationale seems to fall apart, and there is inconsistency, when the draft Constitution considers the accountability of Members of Parliament and Ward Councillors of the Local Government system. The current status quo is maintained whereby MP’s and Councillors are elected into office and are not compelled to be accountable to the appointing authority, which in this case, are the people who elected them.

MP’s and Councillors have free reign over their domains for the duration of their mandate in office, and there are very few provisions that are in place to either demand accountability, or for removal from office.

This scenario creates a governance structure that demands accountability only at the very top, but allows personal whims and fancies to dictate at the lower levels that interact on a daily basis with the people of the nation.

In a business, this arrangement leads to low productivity, abuse, wastage, inefficiency, lack of transparency, and finally after some time, the collapse of the enterprise.

Some character traits of a nation are set by the Head of State. These traits go a long way towards developing a model of behaviour for the leadership of a nation that could create lean and efficient government machinery, or could indulge in a huge government budget that squeezes vast amount of taxes from the citizenry which would have otherwise gone to investment in productive economic activity.

Botswana offers some insights on options for leadership where leaders do not go about their daily business with entourages of support staff. The Head of State in Botswana walks on the streets of Gaberone like every other citizen, as he engages in the day to day life of buying groceries and engaging with his people. As a result, there are very few motorcades, leaders are more in touch with their people, and the Government machinery is more functional in delivering services to the people rather than feeding itself.

There is merit in questioning what the fundamental values and models of our governance structures and systems are based on. As we comment and offer suggestions on the way forward for Zambia, we may want to re-assess the mechanisms that should motivate every Zambian to want to become more productive, more efficient, more innovative, and more committed to the development and well being of the country.

The cost of running a government adds to the cost of doing business. The lack of efficiency, transparency, and accountability in the governance systems of a country adds to the cost of doing business. The weakness in accountability of the legislature to the electorate adds to the cost of doing business. Leadership with low commitment to cost effective social and economic development adds to the cost of doing business

It is folly to expect ‘cut and paste’ models lifted from the blue prints of other countries to work in Zambia without adjusting and adapting them to address the peculiar influences, circumstances, and geo-political pressures that affect Zambia. It will be naïve, to expect foreign assistance and systems to focus primarily on the development of Zambia when they are promoted with foreign tax payer money that should be employed in developing their own social and economic goals.

Nail biting successes such as Ghana qualifying to the next round in the World Cup tournament may not be the best way to go as a sustainable model for Zambia. As we wish Ghana success in the next round, we must walk away acknowledging that our answers do not lie in wishful thinking but in planning, preparation, investment, and strategy.

What really matters for the Zambian economy and the well being of the vast majority of Zambians, is a set of rules and regulations supported by a long term committed effort to lifting the quality of life for all. The basic building block to achieve this goal is a National Constitution that not only stands the proverbial ‘Test of Time’, but that aggressively promotes equity, accountability, transparency, and investment of all the people inclusive of the elected leadership.

Published 6 July 2010

Reactions And Responses

2010-06-22T19:03:00.001+02:00

The opening game of the World Cup at Soccer City in Johannesburg between the host nation South Africa and visitors Mexico, was an exercise in careful mutual respect, and measured engagement.

The motivation for this controlled encounter was the fact that the world was keenly looking to judge the winner or loser and set a tone for world opinion thereafter. Gladly for both sides, the result was a one goal all draw which not only gave each side a positive review, but also treated the world to two goals as an added bonus.

After the opening game, the rest of the world cup games demand strategy, innovation when required, and measured and deliberate engagement. This is much the same as starting a new business. The key issue is to respond to the challenges, and not to react to the unfolding outcomes.

The world cup games show some insights on how Africa reacts rather than responds to evolving situations.

The Argentina versus Nigeria game recorded that Nigeria took half the number of shots at goal than Argentina. Possibly due to the weaknesses in the Nigeria defence, the Nigeria goal keeper Vincent Enyeama was forced to single-handedly defend the goal, and as a consequence, became Man of the Match.

The South Africa versus Uruguay game saw South Africa go down by three goals to nil. The game saw the South Africa goal keeper sent off and a penalty awarded to Uruguay. South Africa shots on goal amounted to half of those shot on goal by the Uruguay side. The South African supporters reacted to the goal keeper send off by walking out of the stadium before the end of the match and abandoning their national team to absorb the then imminent defeat on their own.

The Nigeria versus Greece game recorded a red card for a Nigeria player which motivated the commentators to characterise him as Monster of the Match, and thereafter Nigeria was exposed to a battering from the Greece strikers. The game ended with a two to one score line in favour of Greece, and a gruelling amount of work for Vincent Enyeama yet again as he was left to defend the goal line single-handedly.

Much of the analysis of the three games comes down to reactions to the evolving situations in the games, rather than responses that require re-planning, innovation, strategy, and calculated actions.

Africa may exhibit the most prized soccer players in the world today as they play in Europe and the Americas, but engaging these players in Africa and for Africa, becomes an elusive dream much like the development of African economies which have vast resources but continue to struggle to survive.

African economies are plagued rather than blessed with resources. Much of Africa finds itself entrenched in reactive action when faced with economic challenges rather than responsive motions that should lead to incremental improvements in the development of local economies.

The lessons to be learned from the experiences of member states of the Southern African Customs Union are seldom incorporated in the design of new similar initiatives such as the COMESA Customs Union or the ECOWAS trading block. Africa seems to want to learn by individual personal experiences even though history informs us of some dangers to look out for than can be avoided.

It may be useful to critically analyze and assess the roles of the Bretton Woods institutions and other donor partners that have a foot in African economies.

Like in soccer, we may want to look at the statistics. In soccer we look at how many corners for and against us, we note how many shots on goal for either side, and we keep a record of the number of yellow cards issued, all in an effort to strategically play a better game with the ultimate goal of winning the match.

With the economy, African countries often look to their outside partners to support them with infrastructure development where the partners feel it is useful, and thereafter most of the support is focussed on reacting to social and economic disasters that affect the daily lives of Africans across the continent.

As Africans, it may be worth considering and taking stock of the contents of our own developed strategies. We may want to step back and look at our own goals and develop a home grown program that addresses our own special conditions. We may consider re-engineering our options such that outside intervention becomes a supplement to our own efforts, rather than letting the intervention become the primary program for our development.

China, India, and the Asian Tiger economies have developed on the basis of following their own goals while responding to the global challenges. The sustainable future will be determined by a focussed attention to carefully developed responses to the evolving domestic, regional, and global economic conditions.

The African Union looks to experiences across the world which has impacted on the social and economic development of selected countries. South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Libya are examples of countries that were excluded from interacting with the wider majority over several decades. History revels that these countries focussed on developing domestic capacity to fill the gaps that are usually filled by foreign intervention. The net result has been that these economies have developed more rapidly than those that remained good members of the world club of nations. There may be some lessons to be learned from these experiences.

The continent of Africa is the last bastion of a wide range of resources available to the world. The choice of programs that each African nation selects as a means to trade the resources for various forms of social and economic development will determine the future well being of their nationals for decades to come. A program based on responses rather than reactions will prove to be the way forward.

Africa to Africa collaboration is the primary mandate of many regional economic groupings across the continent. The last two decades have taught Africa that there are more efficient ways to trade by eliminating the middleman in Europe and North America, and trading directly with the source which as been clearly defined as Asia in respect to the vast majority of goods imported into the African continent.

Similarly, African countries can eliminate the need to always process development initiatives through the west and seriously adopt some milestones set by the African Union where the movement and transfer of human resources and knowledge moves directly across the continent thereby developing capacity within the continent. When will African countries cooperate, collaborate, partner, share, support, and embrace each other in the quest for Pan African development through deeds that backup the rhetoric often marketed at continental conferences and meetings?

By the end of June, the World Cup games in South Africa will have eliminated all the African nations. It will be ironic that yet again, Africa will be the playground that Europe and the Americas will have free reign over, while Africans stand on the side lines and sit in the galleries as they gasp at the great achievements of those exploiting their fields.

Published 22 June 2010

Processing Food

2010-06-15T20:16:00.003+02:00

It is refreshing to note that private businesses in Zambia and Tanzania have acknowledged the power of food processing as both a viable business sector, and a natural and necessary food security option.

Over the last two decades Zambia has seen food processors come and go, and some have actually stood the test of time and survived the good times and the bad times.

In the last three years some old food processing investments have resurrected under different names but essentially on the same premises with the same old machinery and equipment.

New entrants to the food processing sector have emerged with options for citrus fruit processing that look to the Luapula and North Western Provinces for out growers under new schemes that should encourage rural farmers to invest in fruit orchards. The cashew nut plantations in the Western Province have also been targeted as a source for inputs in a nut processing plant.

East African investors are reported to have invested on the Copperbelt in an edible oil processing plant that will supplement the current processing capacity which is mainly focussed on Lusaka.

History teaches us some interesting lessons about the food processing sector in Zambia.

First, it is very important that the food processing industry should be able to access competitive pricing for water, sugar, electricity, and oil based fuels if it is to flourish and remain sustainable. These requisites all go towards the cost of doing business.

Second, the food processing sector must be able to access cheap money from the financial markets such that the sector can grow and expand.

Third, training institutions must support this sector by providing courses that support the relevant human resource development requirements which ensure that the food processing industry is adequately staffed with professionally trained personnel.

Fourth, bottling, canning, and packaging capacity must be upgraded to meet regional and international standards.

Fifth, quality and quantity standards must be set and maintained through the assistance of the Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS) and the Zambia Weights and Measures Agency (ZWMA). These standards comprise a mixture of both mandatory standards and voluntary standards that ensure that Zambian processed food is regionally and internationally accepted.

Sixth, food processing companies must learn to collaborate and consolidate so that they can target markets beyond the Zambia borders where quantity and consistency of supply is essential.

Seventh, there must be a sufficient number of investors in the sector to ensure competitiveness for producer crop pricing, and to comprise an industry that can afford some pullouts and failures.

Tanzania has opened up its food processing industry to foreign investment and aims to target markets in the region, the Middle East, and possibly markets further abroad.

In order for the export goals to be realised Zambia and Tanzania must coordinate all the necessary mechanisms to create a scenario where food processing will not only succeed, but will become a major foreign exchange earner for the local economies.

The current environment promotes an uphill ‘go it alone’ philosophy for the development of the food processing sector.

West Africa, Asia, and South America have invested in developing the food processing sector to the extent that dozens of products have been put on the shelves using sweet potato, mango, guava, cassava, banana, yam, soya bean, and other easily grown crops as input raw material.

Food processing allows new cuisines to be developed with relatively very little input.

What Zambia considers surplus and useless seasonal fruit and crops, a food processor regards as valuable input for the factory and could alter the balance between characterising a country as poor and food deficient, or healthy and food self sufficient.

There are glimmers of hope in the supermarkets, airports, and markets when new dried fruit products are displayed on the shelves. Interesting flavours of roasted ground nuts can be purchased at selected shops. A variety of dried vegetables are now available in major supermarkets. Dried meat is now packaged in small portions for the snack meal.

These above products are commonly seen in South African shops but represent only the tip of the iceberg of processed and packaged foods. A whole industry can be aggressively built around food processing that will mop us the wastage that is experienced in Zambia through every season of selected fruits, crops, vegetables, honey, fish, meat, and even exotic edible insects.

The constant emphasis that Zambia has placed on the need to process and add value to the huge amount of copper that is mined in the country, should also be put on food processing which has a more profound impact on the quality of lives of local people.

The investment and other requirements to process copper are far more extensive and complex than the investment required to process food products.

This may be an opportunity to take stock of what really matters to the average person. Is food availability and access more important than the goal of adding value to copper? Which option comes out tops on the priority list? Which option is easier to realize?

Published 15 June 2010

Closing Ranks

2010-06-08T11:50:00.003+02:00

Since the advent of the global crisis in 2008, the world has recognized the need to close ranks in respect to domestic economic development.

The various forms of closing ranks ranges from domestic private sector collaboration with their respective governments, to regional and international development initiatives across a variety of economic programs.

The wake up call was not only initiated by the global economic crisis, but was propelled by the realisation that several Asian countries led by China, have over the last three decades built robust and resilient economies that withstood the pressure coming from the upheavals in the developed world.

As a result of this realisation, many developed countries have now adopted previously discouraged initiatives such as subsidies, protection, import quotas, and other non tariff barriers in an effort to stimulate domestic production in their own economies. These previously frowned upon and considered anti development mechanisms by the World Bank (WB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF), have become the survival tools for developed economies and have forced the Bretton Woods institutions to shut up and stand aside.

The WB and IMF are now compelled to innovate and dream up some new economic development initiatives that will not condemn the actions taken in the developed world, and yet seemingly offer some convincing strategies for Africa’s development.

The natural way for Africa, and more specifically for Zambia, is to close ranks within the country as a primary strategy, and to close ranks within Africa as the continental strategy. The various regional economic groupings offer a series of development paths towards a consolidated Africa through the initiatives of various groupings such as COMESA, ECOWAS, SADC, EAC, and several others.

It is quite clear that the government in the United States of America was rightly compelled to financially bail out several banks and insurance companies, and engaged to protect their timber industry, while the airline industry quickly embraced amalgamation and mergers in an effort to maintain a viable and competitive economy.

The United Kingdom and other European countries followed suit with similar bail outs and mergers, while unsalvageable companies were allowed to file for bankruptcy and shut down in the best interests of the economies in which they operated.

In Southern Africa, the initiatives and strategies undertaken by COMESA, SADC and the EAC are challenging member states to think domestic, and to think regional. Developments in the region must address the challenges of promoting regional integration through easier communication and interaction amongst member states. SADC, EAC
and COMESA must engage with each other and the rest of Africa to ensure that African nationals can visit each African country in a hassle free manner that favours the movement of Africans across the continent. The current status of African Commonwealth countries interacting more efficiently and in a facilitative manner at the expense of ECOWAS countries that are mainly Francophone, only contributes towards dividing Africa and supporting a polarised and non collaborative continent.

When will Africans be able to visit each other and obtain visas at the border of entry? When will Africans promote all Africans irrespective of which country the individuals hail from? When will Africans look to other Africans as development partners before scuttling off to Europe and America to engage in an inequitable economic relationship?

In Zambia, the challenges are immense. The economy is developing steadily and there are many opportunities for domestic ‘closing of the ranks’ for Zambian businesses. Government contracts for the supply of various goods and services need to be targeted on domestic suppliers before they are offered to foreign companies. Many options for this targeted development are available and cover areas such as bore hole drilling, tourism and conferences, airline services, steel production, skills development, and sugar manufacturing, to name but a few.

Government can play a key role in offering domestic businesses opportunities to develop, grow, and become significant contributors to taxation and production in the country. The links between growing the tourism sector and the hosting of regional conferences through collaborative programs is already being established albeit in a small and non formalised manner.

Collaboration between a strictly domestic routes airline and another airline that offers regional routes has developed bigger capacities for both companies and create bigger economies of scale in terms of volume of business. There is potential for the sugar producers to compete in the domestic market, and to collaborate to service the regional markets developed through the COMESA Customs Union. The young steel producers sector is challenged to collaborate while the sector is still in the development stage. Options for supplying steel to the region are open to Zambian producers and the success of exploiting these options may rest on how organised and collaborative the producers become, when challenged with fulfilling regional orders consistently.

Zambia and Africa must develop new benchmarks for economic development that are relevant to domestic and regional development. New milestones to measure achievement and progress must be generated. The milestones should measure economic development within each country, and development within the region.

It is quite clear that the development benchmarks and milestones imposed on Zambia and Africa by Prescriptive Partners are not for the benefit of African economies directly, but are key issues that impact on foreign direct investment and foreign government aid programs.

The challenges for Closing Ranks for Zambia and Africa can be compared to a bus that has broken down en route from one town to another. The passengers on the bus have a choice. They can either stay in their seats and hope that the driver and his crew can miraculously push the fully loaded bus to start the engine and continue on the journey to prosperity, or they can all realistically disembark and help to push the lighter loaded bus so that their journey continues relatively unbroken and their goal of arriving at their destination in a much shorter time is well within their sights.

Closing ranks through collaboration, partnership, and boosting domestic capacity offers Zambia and Africa a positive route to economic development that can be owned and managed by Africans.

Published 8 June 2010

A Woman's Lot

2010-06-06T20:49:00.004+02:00

The role of girls and boys, men and women, and mothers and fathers, has been the subject of much debate in the last four decades.

Religion and laws have segregated the male and female roles for centuries. The segregation has moved away from the basis of obvious biological differences to cultural and social constructs that have deliberately favoured one gender over the other depending on the issue or circumstances.

The gender debate is far from concluded, and is just as far from arriving at a consensus across the world. The discussion and dialogue continues to evolve with time.

On the ground however, evidence shows that in Zambia just as many girls are enrolled in primary school as boys. This equity stops there as statistics begin to reveal that more boys end up in secondary school than girls. The trend continues at tertiary education where the numbers start to dramatically change in favour of males.

Some explanations include the fact that girls are socialized at an early age to take up domestic work in the home and soon become child minders and home builders even while there are in primary school. This situation then makes it cost saving to withdraw the girl child from school to replace domestic workers and yet compel the boy child to go to school as a means to keep him occupied and out of mischief.

Many secondary school girls tend to fall prey to pregnancy and have to leave school to tend to their new born child while the father of the child gets away with paying a ‘charge for damages’ and continues in school without any further responsibilities towards the child. The Zambian law theoretically protects pregnant girls from being expelled for becoming pregnant (the correct term is actually falling pregnant which graphically illustrates how pregnancy makes a girl fall from favour, society, school, and freedom), but the reality is that pregnancy physically knocks a girl out of school because of the logistics and costs of having a baby and looking after a baby.

The girl child who develops into a young woman soon becomes mentally and physically more mature than her male counterpart. The combination of childhood experiences, exposure, and maturity generally makes the young woman more aware, awake, sensitive, and deductive in such a way as to exhibit good business sense and a much talked about attribute commonly known as ‘woman’s intuition’. In short, young women are far sharper, and are better judges of character, than their men folk.

Alas, the lot for a woman is not as hopeful as that of a man. Many women will find themselves with not much more than basic education as they enter adulthood. Many women negotiate life with the domestic skills that they have developed in their homes, and tend to emphasize on their looks rather than their brains in an effort to secure a good life.

Those women that have managed to make it to the top with low education and good domestic and family building skills, have had to settle for miserable relationships and constant verbal and physical abuse from their spouses, because they have no place else to go.

It is said that access to money is access to power. For many women the power is in the pockets of their spouses and this power develops an imbalance in the relationship to the extent that the man often reminds his woman partner that she can either take life his way or go away and fend for herself. Most women do not want to be put in a position to have to make the choice because going away from comfort and security is not easy.

Laws have had to be made to protect women in the work place from harassment and abuse from their male co-workers. The fact that these laws are now in place I many countries across the world is testimony of the prolific existence of harassment of the woman worker.

The modern woman is faced with experiences of covert harassment in the work place, the prospect of being dumped with young children when her spouse decides to up and leave for better prospects, disrespect from family and society for not having a good education, insufficient earnings due to poor work skills and training (outside the hospitality industry), oppression and ridicule from a better educated and higher earning spouse.

This is a woman’s lot today if she has a humble education and set of skills that relegate her to the role of domestic worker for the family and low income earner.

This lot should not be the case if the girl child can be kept in school, attain a university education, and use all the life skills that she has developed, and all the experiences that she has been exposed to in her youth, to become a top earner and performer in her chosen career. The rise of women in Zambia to top positions in government and industry is proof that a women’s lot is largely determined by the focus on education in youth and in early adulthood.

Women can avoid needing a sugar daddy to pay the bills. Women can stop being marketed as prize possessions. Women can prevent the situation of being viewed as family assets much like livestock and property. Women can change the notion of being described as the weaker sex.

Empowered women are the ones that take their lives into their own hands by jumping into the driver seat and steering the course of life either on their own, or with their spouses, as contributing, confident, and respectable partners in building a home and a future.

A woman’s lot can be by design and not by default as has been the case in the past. The woman of today has some influence on her present life and the future, but with the assistance of her family, she can chart a path to happiness and success with a good and relevant education as the driving mechanism.

Published 6 June 2010

Legends And Icons

2010-06-01T23:09:00.007+02:00

Each successive generation looks to the previous generation for legends and icons to serve as role models that handover values and knowledge that is vitally required in the continuum of progressive social and economic development.

For many people the legends and icons are represented primarily by parents, and can be supplemented by teachers, church leaders, work colleagues, and even political leaders.

My personal legend and icon has been my father. A man that always said ‘I may not leave you with wealth, but I will certainly leave you with a good name’. For some, a good name is the greatest wealth that a parent can bequeath to them, while for others, cash in the bank and property is their life long dream being realized. Sadly, my father passed in Lusaka on Saturday 15 May 2010 at the ripe old age of 86. I am very fortunate to have received his good name and may his blessed soul rest in peace.

Now what remains behind for us are the lessons of life that we can use to navigate our own lives much more strategically as the errors and successes of our legends and icons become part of our own living history.

We celebrate Africa Freedom day every year and yet to many of us all we experience is another day off work and seldom do we fully appreciate the opportunity that the day commemorates in respect to uplifting our lives, and the lives of our children as we look to the future.

One might question the significance of legends and icons in relation to social and economic development of any country. For some it is obvious that there are linkages from one generation to another and the human development paradigm is channeled through this mechanism. For others there are options of books and the internet to provide all the necessary history and background that is required to propel development in this modern age. Albeit that all literature and even the internet has information mostly based on the perception of the author rather than on hard indisputable facts. This may explain why the world is in such a big social and economic mess at the moment.

Africa’s lack of rapid and sustainable development may be as a result of looking outward for the answers rather than looking inward for the legends and icons of our time.

Our minds have become so busy with conflicting information, irrational ideas, and wishful thinking, that we have mostly closed ourselves from other more progressive options that are right at our doorsteps.

Today, the lessons passed on by Nelson Mandela during the post democratic dispensation in South Africa, and the lessons that he articulated while in detention on Robben Island, risk being relegated to anecdotes rather than the blood, sweat and tears that they truly represent. Is modern day South Africa now more cognizant of the socially and economically marginalized lives of the poor masses across the country? When will this model nation of African development finally eliminate tin shack dwellings and almost zero education amongst its poor?

While the rest of Africa endeavors to emulate the South African city skyline and highway network, it may be useful for South Africa to look closer at the achievements made by Zambia and other African countries in the struggle for equitable access to decent housing and basic education for the vast majority of their people.

The legends and icons of Africa include Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Kenneth Kaunda, Julius Nyerere, Nelson Mandela, Samora Machel, and Anwar Sadat. The history books written outside the continent tend to label these great heroes as dictators, delusional leaders, terrorists, and troublemakers. African literature records these leaders as champions of freedom, liberators, inspirational icons, promoters of Pan Africanism, and legends of our times.

Recent events bring to the fore some notorious icons such as the alleged drug lord and master criminal in Kingston Jamaica who commands such a strong following that members of the public are willing to put their lives on the line to break him out of police custody and set him free. One can reasonably conclude that a situation exists in Kingston where either the official system of government has failed the people and the alleged drug king has stepped in to provide the local people with opportunities and options for a livelihood, or the public have been corrupted and coerced into a life of lawlessness and anarchy.

The legends and icons of our time can therefore either bring us motivation, hope, and expectations for a better and brighter tomorrow, or they can help to plunder us into submission, misery, and darkness for the foreseeable future.

Zambia can begin to domestically build a living history of the legends and icons that have contributed to advancing the social and economic development of the country since the days of colonial rule. There are many silent heroes in our villages, towns, and cities whose lives and stories remain unspoken and undocumented. There are treasures of traditional and cultural oral literature that remain in the homes and eventually graves of unsung Zambian heroes. There is pride, confidence, and great lessons that are buried each day in our burgeoning cemeteries as great people bid farewell to this world and take their experiences and thoughts with them to the after life.

The legends and icons that survive in our communities today seem to be the mockers of integrity, the attackers of honesty, the fighters against sincerity, and the killers of truth. The generations of our youth that are exposed to this kind of icon have a bleak future ahead of them because the lessons that they learn are usually lessons on self destruction that can only bring shame and poverty to the nation.

It is every citizen’s responsibility to flush out the bogus legends and icons and usher in and hold up high the true heroes of our nation.

Every hard working man, woman, and child in this nation is material for tomorrow’s new legends and icons. Every honest and sincere person has the ingredients to become the hero of tomorrow.

The virtue of integrity and humility has the potential to fashion the character of the generation of tomorrow which is faced with the challenges of globalization, regional integration, and nation building in a hostile and very unfair world order in which the barbaric principle of the survival of the fittest and strongest still reigns.

Published 1 June 2010

Magic Plots

2010-05-25T00:42:00.005+02:00

The urban areas with special emphasis on Lusaka and the Copperbelt have experienced some interesting and ingenious magic incantations that manufacture plots of land in areas that are known to be fully developed.

The town planners and government departments will close files on development in certain areas only to be re-opened a few years later with a mission to magically create some new plots for sale to the general public.

The magic tricks and juju that goes on in Lusaka is emulated in many other parts of the country to the extent that city planners and local councils begin to create a shanty town that is poorly serviced purely out of greed and abuse.

Commonwealth road in Matero is undergoing some changes that will generate official tuntenba’s along this main trunk road unless arrested by the Ministry of Local Government. Shortsighted immediate gains are chosen instead of orderly development that will have a future positive impact on the quality of life for Matero residents.

Vubu road in Emmasdale is being threatened with the creation of numerous new plots on the interlink roads connecting Vubu road to the opposite parallel roads. Some local council staff have seen it fit to block off the interlink roads on one end and create a plot on the actual road thereby now converting the road into a single access close. There is a current dispute on the Kalanga road and Mimosa road junction where such a plot has been approved for creation using this urban development magic.

The development of a block of commercial plots in Jesmondine has been stalled for a few years now due to a new plot number JES 220 that was magically created on the access road reserve which was designed to not only provide access to the existing commercial plots, but to also provide access routes for sewer and water supply lines.

These examples of magic plots are but a few instances where the local authorities have ignored all city planning blueprints and opted to undermine the orderly development of the city at the expense of frustrating economic development.

Correspondence to the city planners, Ministry of Lands, and Anti Corruption Commission has been forwarded and the acid test will be to see what kind of response and action will be taken.

The urban plots saga is at the brink of evolving into full scale anarchy unless the top brass in the Ministry of Local Government, the top Civic Leaders, and the Minister of Lands, collaborate to eradicate the creation and allocation of magic plots which in many cases create huge legal complications once allowed to flourish.

The real magic plots should come from professional town and city planning that either redesigns complete areas, or develops new areas to be offered to the public through the usual application systems.

Other real magic plots are created through the act of shanty compound dwellers selling their small plots in bunches that share common boundaries. These consolidated small plots magically become one new commercial plot. Examples of this form of magic plots can be seen along the Kafue road in Lusaka in Misisi Compound and John Laing compound.

An interesting magic plot is one that is given by a traditional ruler to an individual or institution. In many cases the plot will not have title deed because although it has been allocated to a single entity to be used for an agreed purpose, the land still officially belongs to the local people and is administered by the traditional ruler.

The most well known creation of magic plots comes from the new plots that are created as a result of a sub division of a much bigger plot. This form of plot is so common that most of our title deeds bear the plot number as being SUB x of Plot number y, where x and y represent the new plot and older mother plot respectively.

The political players use magic plots to attract votes and to cement loyalty. When the exercise is done haphazardly the net result is that service lines are obstructed, several owners with convincing documentation begin to fight for one particular plot, and the city or town degenerates into a slum due to limited road access and lack of maintenance.

There is an obvious shortcoming in the way we manage the creation and allocation of plots in Zambia. This is evidenced by the increased levels of corruption in plot creation, and allocation.

In many countries the residents of any particular area are consulted before the creation of any new plots, or the re-designing of older existing roads and plots structures.

The advice on the street is that don’t be fooled into buying a plot that either has not been publicly advertised, or is clearly located at the end of an existing road or street.

The public must be made aware that obtaining and buying plots can be a tricky business which can easily lead to a huge loss of money and possibly attract some criminal charges.

The Latin property law doctrine of ‘Caveat Emptor’ translates into English as ‘Let the buyer beware’. The buyers or recipients of plots in Zambia must also beware that they do not lose their hard earned money on some magic plots that may disappear as fast as they appeared when the transaction was being made.

Ignorance is no excuse before the law in many cases. The purveyors and customers of magic plots will only have themselves to blame when deals go sour and the authorities demand that illegal or illogical magic plots be eradicated to maintain a measure of development sanity in the nation.

Watch out for magic plots because they could turn out to be magic tricks to extort your money but worse still, they could suddenly vanish at the first signs of trouble. Magic is all about illusion, and illusion is all about seeing something that actually does not exist.

Published 25 May 2010

Making Progress

2010-05-18T22:51:00.002+02:00

The recent announcement that China has earmarked over USD5 billion for development of mining activities in Zambia is a measure of making progress.

Further, a figure of USD1.5 billion has been allocated to building the Kafue Gorge Lower power generation project that should produce an additional output of at least 900 Megawatts. This additional power will be required to meet the energy needs within the mining sector over the next five years.

It is interesting to note that several years ago the Chinese government offered to finance the very same power project at a cost of only USD750 million at the time. The cost has now doubled due to the passage of time and the pressure of rising costs.

As a country, we seem to have gone full circle. We started with the Chinese offer, then went on to look for private sector investors in the energy sector, then moved on to negotiate with the World Bank for financing, and finally came right back to the same Chinese offer that we had not jumped at when initially offered.

What has been the immediate cost to the nation? It cost twice the original price quoted five years ago. In addition, we have suffered blackouts, load shedding, and erratic power supply.

Are there some lessons to be learned from this experience? Is it possible to acknowledge that when we negotiate some concessionary development loans for the building of new infrastructure, we should bite the bullet and get on with it so that we efficiently implement the projects rather than procrastinating and finally finding ourselves having to pay double?

Making progress is about being resolute and acting on decisions taken. Making progress is about not missing the opportunities when they are in reach. Making progress is about investing now so as to reap in the future. Making progress is about planning, researching, strategizing, and investing in our future.

There have been ongoing discussions in respect to inadequate electricity generation in Zambia. It is common knowledge that the railway system in Zambia is in a deplorable state. We are all aware that many parts of the country are unreachable for the purposes of workable tourism packages.

Making progress is about addressing these well known issues through strategic partnerships with willing partners such as the Chinese, Indians and any other compatible countries and institutions that would like to develop a progressive relationship with Zambia such that all parties benefit and grow.

Zambia should not be content with building an additional electricity generating power station. Zambia must be looking into the next decade where electricity demand is expected to be four times the current requirements due to the expected growth of the mining sector and manufacturing investments. Zambia should be considering building at least two more power stations just to meet the shortfall of electricity demand between now and the year 2020.

Zambia should be seriously working on a mechanism to resurrect the railway transport system and upgrade it to meet the demands for cross country and inter country trade within the region. Zambia should be working to extend the railway network to all the major commercial border posts and develop links to the regional railway network.

Zambia should be assessing and developing an implementation plan to open up new areas for tourism through a network of international airports that will facilitate direct flights into the targeted areas. This will bring tourists from all over the world right into the key tourism areas and will bring development into many of the rural areas.

Making progress suggests that Zambia moves forward from discussions and dialogue, towards engagement with collaborating partners and implementation of programs and projects.

Making progress informs us that Zambia now has a variety of partners to choose from when doing global business. Making progress challenges us to side step the rhetoric and double talk, and look out for action and commitment to seeing things through to the logical conclusion.

China offers us an opportunity to change our traditional way of dealing with our social and economic woes. We can stop lamenting about the colonial past and disregard the consumption propaganda that is marketed in the media, and begin to take control of our own destiny by shifting our position to the driver’s seat and taking control.

Making progress compels us to acknowledge which are the successful and growing economies of the world and how they can positively impact on our own economy.

Making progress demands that we audit ourselves first, find out where our inadequacies are, and then plug in the loopholes to ensure that we are focused and capable of taking the country consistently forward each year.

Making progress should not only be measured by intangible documentation and pronouncements. It should also be measured by the improvement in the quality of life of each citizen and resident. It should also be measured by simple benchmarks such as quality of education, quality of healthcare, access to information and knowledge, and the systems in place to empower local people through economic activities and the freedom to make individual decisions on the development of a desired future.

Making progress is usually measured on the basis of where we are today in contrast to where we were yesterday.

Published 18 May 2010

Property Scams

2010-05-11T21:34:00.003+02:00

As the Zambian economy grows the environment becomes much more sophisticated. Businesses assume more complex mechanisms and things begin to move much faster.

The ordinary person must now rapidly learn to be more careful and more conscious of what is going on around them as an increasing number of unscrupulous people walk the streets of our cities.

In all professions there are rules and regulations to follow coupled with a code of ethics to ensure that business is done in a fair manner. To this end, many professionals are obliged to join various associations and be registered with specific bodies in an attempt to use both per pressure and oversight institutions to promote good business practices.

In the property business it often becomes difficult to distinguish the professionals from the conmen.
Furthermore, one cannot easily determine who the perpetrator is and who represents the victim.

Take the property rental business as an example. Too often one assumes that the person renting out the property is likely to be the conman while the person renting the property is labeled the victim.

Experience notes that in many cases people that go into the market to rent out a property will do every thing in their power to rent out the premises. In an increasing number of cases the people renting out the property do not even have an official mandate to rent out the property. The required official mandate will be in the form of a signed agreement between the property owner and the agent that will authorize the agent to rent out the property on behalf of the owner. Many people sign lease agreements with agents, family members, and friends that do not have the authority to enter into any agreement on behalf of the owner of the property. In short, the agreement or contract is null and void, and borders on fraud.

Money will have changed hands and at some point the legal owner of the property can demand re-possession of the property, or claim for un-paid rentals, or both.

The flip side of the argument is that legitimate representatives for property that needs to be rented out can negotiate with a prospective tenant and still find themselves experiencing losses and possible legal action.

A situation where a prospective tenant offers to rent a property and requests for access to the property so that they can start preparing to make new curtains or other furnishings, can develop into a property owner’s nightmare. The prospective tenant highlights that payment for the rentals is being put together within a few days and offers that on the date of payment the lease agreement will be signed by both parties. In the meantime they would like to visit the property from time to time and make preparations to move in once the money comes in. It seems like a harmless arrangement at face value.

The prospective tenant then visits the property a few times to take measurements and comes with different colleagues each time.

Before anybody knows what is happening, the prospective tenant receives six months advance payment rentals for the same property from one of his so called colleagues.

How? The prospective tenant actually offers to other people, the same property that he states that he wants to rent. The fact that he has access to the property gives him credibility in the eyes of the new tenant, and often the rentals demanded will be well below market rates, thereby making the new tenant pay up front in a hurry in a bid not to lose this good deal.

The conman with the cash in the pocket disappears and leaves the fight to begin between the real owner and the cheated new tenant who is unknown to the owner.

This is a common scam in many countries and often the owner of the property and the cheated tenant have to fight it out in court as the cheated person alleges that the conman and the owner were working together to cheat innocent people.

Sometimes the conman even goes further than just renting out property that he has no authority over. Instead of renting the property out, the conman actually sells it at a price that is one third of the market value. The unsuspecting buyer loses even more than a few months’ rentals as he rushes to his bank to withdraw all his savings to pay for this jackpot bargain property!

If one is looking to rent or buy property then it is important to use some basic rules to ensure a legitimate and mutually beneficial outcome.

It is always a good idea to use registered estate agents and to part away with one month of rent for the work that they do to avoid losing money or spending months in court.

If you want to rent property then make sure that the agent has a bona fide letter of authority from the owner. Ask to see the Certificate of Title if you are considering buying the property.

Do a check at the Ministry of Lands as to who the registered owner of the property is and what encumbrances the property has. Is it mortgaged? Is it being contested by another party? Are they any Caveats registered? Is the property owned by an individual or a number of individuals, or an institution?

If you are renting out property through an agent be sure to be clear about whether you are giving them exclusive rights to rent out he property, or whether they have non-exclusive rights that allows others to market the property.

Holding onto a security deposit of one month rent helps to keep both landlord and tenant focused on eventually terminating the property rental relationship in an amicable manner.

The Law Association of Zambia and other bodies in the legal sector have drawn up sample Property Lease Agreements, sample Property Sales Agreements, and sample Property Assignment documents for use by the general public when dealing with property transactions.

It pays to use these professionally developed documents when dealing with property. For many Zambians, property owned reflects the work and achievement of a lifetime. Let us all be watchful for the property scammers that are out there looking for a soft and foolish target.

Published 11 May 2010

Peace Parks

2010-05-04T21:31:00.001+02:00

Peace Parks or TransFrontier Conservation Areas (TFCA) are established through a network of protected areas that link ecosystems across international borders.

Peace Parks are designed for the conservation of wildlife, the development of human resources therein, supporting sustainable economic development, facilitation of biodiversity, and the promotion of peace and stability.

Peace Parks have been spearheaded by the Peace Park Foundation in Stellenbosch South Africa which has many activities in South Africa and covers huge tracts of land in the Southern African region.

The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Wildlife Conservation and Law Enforcement of 1999 defines a TransFrontier Conservation Area (TFCA) as "the area or component of a large ecological region that straddles the boundaries of two or more countries, encompassing one or more protected areas as well as multiple resource use areas". This Protocol compels SADC Member States to promote the conservation of shared wildlife resources through the establishment of TransFrontier Conservation Areas.

Peace Parks have been established across the Southern African region covering several countries including Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana, Angola, Namibia, and South Africa. Amongst other goals, Peace Parks are about co-existence between humans and nature and stimulating local jobs creation through developing nature conservation as a land use option.

The Chobe National Park and Kafue National Park Peace Park develops a corridor for elephants to roam freely from Botswana into Zambia thereby crossing international borders unhindered.

Management of Peace Parks provides for the anti poaching units to track down subsistence poachers in hot pursuit across the international borders that are within the Peace Park demarcations. This mechanism allows for a more robust anti poaching drive that is not frustrated by sovereign jurisdiction.

Peace Parks between Zambia and Malawi cover over 35,000 square kilometres and the total area covered by Peace Parks within Zambia is in the order of about 300,000 square kilometres.

Peace Parks in Zambia therefore account for almost 40 percent of the total land mass that constitutes the entire country. This is probably the biggest alienation of land to a specific purpose ever carried out in the country.

There are concerns across the globe about flora, fauna, and wildlife that faces near extinction. In the animal kingdom these include the Blue Whale in the Pacific Ocean, the Giant Panda of Southern China, the Silverback Gorilla of North Eastern Congo and Rwanda, the Tigers of the Sunderbans in North Eastern India and Bangladesh, and of course, the Rhino of Southern and East Africa.

It must be stated that there is another species of animal that is often ignored in the conservation equation – the human being.

Too often the spotlight is on the animals that roam our forests and jungles with very little attention given to the people that share the habitat with these animals.

Have we taken time to understand the drive that promotes subsistence poaching? What conflicts are we designing when we allow elephants to freely roam across the country and trample peasant farmer crops and dwellings? How can rural people play a significant role in supporting conservation? How can animal conservation be profitable to the local people?

These questions and many others are never truly answered. Policy makers and project designers usually use the elite and the law to make their case. The well to do are very conservation conscious in their privileged comfort zones. The law is easily drawn up to force the vulnerable and disregarded to survive with even less than they had yesterday.

It is no wonder that nature is often disregarded when rural people scour the rivers and country side in search of gold, emeralds, and other precious stones that will guarantee them a hefty bounty while no current conservation program offers any such promises.

There is a case to argue that the implementation of the Peace Park program is not as equitable as the blueprints suggest. There is need to invest in the well being of the local people within the environment more so than the current investment that is being done in protecting and conserving the animals. This dynamic is true for Zambia as it is for the Southern African region, and it is the same dynamic that has continued to threaten the existence of the Tiger, Panda, Gorilla and Blue Whale.

There are clearly some international challenges that have not been addressed in developing the conservation programs globally.

The Peace Park initiative looks good on the outside and has some noble goals in respect to conservation for everything except humans themselves. The alienation of 300,000 square kilometres is not such a big issue if the Peace Parks are not exclusively fashioned and managed with only the welfare of the animals as top priority.

It will be wise to reflect on the benchmarks that Peace Parks have set for themselves which pay special attention to the role and welfare of humans.

The statistics may need to be re-written. A study may have to be done to determine whether the traditional authorities have oversight of the majority of Land in Zambia, or could it possibly be the Peace Parks and their management teams?

Published 4 May 2010

Cloudy Skies

2010-04-27T21:52:00.001+02:00

The rainy season in Zambia seems to have come to an end, and the dark clouds bearing rain up in the skies, have transformed into dark clouds bearing the local incoming winter.

This strange weather pattern has removed the warm days that come right after the rainy season, and brought in the cold well before its due date, which is usually at the end of May. Zambia has therefore remained with cloudy skies from the last quarter of 2009 right through into the second quarter of 2010. Can it get worse?

Europe is plagued with its own dimension of cloudy skies as the eruption of the volcano in Iceland spews its infernal rock and mineral guts in the form of a fine dust into the atmosphere. These clouds of ash have formed into treacherous lairs that have clogged the European skies and lay in wait to ambush and choke any airplane engine that might hazard a close encounter.

The two latest incidents of airplanes being brought down by volcanic ash clouds were experienced in the 1982 and in 1989. In both cases the airplanes were forced to conduct an emergency landing because the engines were shut down and the aircraft would otherwise crash.

The 1982 incident involved a Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet that flew through a volcanic ash cloud which was formed as a result of the eruption of Mount Galunggung in Indonesia. All four engines failed, and much later outside the ash cloud, they were restarted with one engine failing once again, but the aircraft was diverted off its original course and safely landed in Jarkata.

The 1989 almost brand new Boeing 747 en route to Tokyo, Japan suffered failure of all four engines when it flew through a thick cloud of volcanic ash which was earlier spewed by Mount Redoubt in Alaska. Similarly, the crew anxiously grappled with the engines to restart them and take the aircraft down safely.

The airline industry has just emerged out a global recession and until the Iceland volcano ash clouds appeared in the skies, there was optimism that business would grow in the face of an unfolding World Cup in South Africa, and the expected increase in both passenger traffic as well as cargo during 2010.

Instead, Europe and the rest of world have been hit by a disruption of traffic in the order of about 1.2 million passengers per day resulting in daily revenue losses of about USD400 million. In addition, Iceland stands right in the path of intercontinental air traffic between Europe and North America.

The greatest impact of air traffic disruptions therefore have been on flights between Europe and North America, on flights within Europe, and on flights in and out of Europe.

These kinds of losses begin to stress the patience of big businesses such as the airline industry. Choices between erring on the side of too much passenger safety considerations which may lead to possibly dragging the airline industry into bankruptcy, and risking calculated flight schedules with strong monitoring and evaluation precautionary processes to test the effects and implications of flying through the Iceland volcano ash clouds whilst keeping the airline business sustainably productive, are tough life or death choices that affect both passengers and businesses. Only time will tell which will have been the right way to go.

Unfortunately Zambia and the sub continent are not immune to the effects of the ash filled cloudy skies of Europe. The World Cup 2010 is just around the corner and any disruptions to passenger traffic in Europe will result in disruptions in passenger traffic to Southern Africa.

The backlog of passengers on waiting lists in Europe will have to be cleared. Some passengers will have spent too much money resolving travel arrangements which were disrupted by the ash clouds and will not enough resources left over to spend in Southern Africa during the soccer extravaganza.

Shall we now receive fewer visitors than expected before this cloudy skies saga? Will there be adequate airplanes to fly visitors to Southern Africa? or will we see more efforts being focused on normalizing the flow of air traffic in Europe and North America? Will air fare prices remain the same as before the cloudy skies? or will they be increased to make up for the losses?

Currently Zambia and other countries in the region are looking to do some last ditch efforts to suck in the World Cup visitors to our various tourist sites and attractions.

Last month’s Lusaka Tourism Expo witnessed a new airline from the region open its doors in Zambia offering several flights a week from Joburg to Ndola, Lusaka, and Livingstone.

Our own cloudy skies policy may have to be challenged at a time when un-usual circumstances demand un-usual solutions.

What opportunities are there for our regulators of the skies to entice the current airlines to introduce more flights a week? Is there a way that we can have the airlines into Zambia upgrade their aircraft to larger passenger carrying models as a way to increase the entry rate of tourists? Can we open up more options for international flights into Lusaka, Ndola, Livingstone and Mfuwe? What packages can we offer to the 2010 tourist in the non traditional tourist cities of Lusaka and Ndola?

Currently Zimbabwe’s Vic Falls town flies in fifty percent more tourists from South Africa than Livingstone does. This has been achieved by simply persuading the South African carrier to operate larger passenger carrying capacity aircraft.

The cloudy skies in Zambia can be turned into sunny and happy skies filled with tourists, only if we take the right action at the right time. And the time is now.

The choices to be made by Zambia and Europe in respect to the cloudy skies are similar. Europe is looking for ways to re-populate their skies with aircraft filled with passengers and cargo.

Similarly, Zambia needs to find innovative ways to populate her skies with aircraft and passengers destined for Zambia’s tourist and business destinations.

The difference is that if Europe makes the wrong choices passengers may indeed fall out of the skies, whereas for Zambia, if we make the wrong choices tourists will definitely not come out of our skies.

Published 27 April 2010

Audited Accounts

2010-04-20T20:41:00.002+02:00

Last week the accountants and tax collectors met at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka as part of a series of planned meetings to discuss the demand by the Zambia Revenue Authority for the submission of Audited Accounts with annual tax returns at the end of each financial year.

The meeting produced some hue and cry from the public on this newly introduced hurdle, to be faced by local businesses, which could possibly affect this year’s tax returns, as the country ended the business financial year on 31 March 2010.

A scrutiny of the Companies Act under chapter 388 of the Laws of Zambia reveals that actually this demand for Audited Accounts to be produced is enshrined in Part VIII Section 164 (3) which reads;

‘The directors shall take reasonable steps to ensure that the annual accounts of the company and, if it is a holding company for which group accounts are required, the group accounts, are audited as required by this Part within the time allowed by subsection (1). Sub section (4) further reads ‘The directors shall cause the auditors' report relating to the annual accounts that is furnished to the directors in accordance with this Part to be attached to, or endorsed upon, the annual accounts.

The interpretation of the word ‘company’ is contained in Part I and reads; ‘company’ means - (a) a company incorporated under this Act; or (b) subject to section four and Division 14.3, an existing company; ‘company limited by guarantee’ means a company incorporated as such, being a company satisfying section nineteen.

In a nutshell, the production of audited accounts is a requirement under the law, but only for companies incorporated under the Act. This generally means Limited Liability companies and companies Limited by Guarantee although there may be some special companies that are incorporated but are unlimited. This requirement applies both to private companies and public companies.

Now that the legal issues are dispensed with, the next question is; how does this legal requirement which is now demanded by the Zambia Revenue Authority impact on the private sector in particular?

For the medium to large corporates this requirement is part of their year to year activities and forms part of their annual due diligence and performance analysis program which focuses on improving the productivity of the company and protecting the interests of the shareholders or guarantors as the case may be. No dust is kicked up by this demand for audited accounts and life goes on as before.

As for the medium to small entrepreneurs, a new hurdle will have been introduced that will demand a higher level of book keeping which requires qualified accountants that cost more money to the business. In addition, the cost of an audit by an accredited or recognized auditing firm is likely to be a large burden that will add to the cost of doing business. Figures of between a low of K 5 million and a high of K 30 million were thrown across the room during the private sector – public sector debate on the issue in Lusaka.

However one wants to interpret this development, it is clear to see that there is a cost that companies will have to bear which may escalate even higher if the auditing firms decide to hike their charges across the board in response to this new revelation within the law. After all, business is all about seizing the opportunity to maximize profits where possible.

Part of the rationale behind the running of a series of meetings across the country to discuss this issue, is to receive the various views, concerns, criticisms, and comments on the way forward for Zambian registered companies.

It is extremely important to address this issue with an open mind and a spirit of nation building by both the private sector and the various arms of government and the public service.

Open and candid discussion and debate can chart a path for the private sector that should prevent hundreds of companies that constitute the medium to small businesses from de-registering as limited liability companies and re-registering as sole traders to avoid having to produce audited accounts for tax purposes. This undesirable move renders many companies unable to borrow from the banks in any meaningful way, blocks a clear pathway for equity partnerships and joint venture, and leaves firms and families exposed to economic storms as the country integrates with the region and the global economy. In the case of Zambia, this shift could account for more than 90 percent of all businesses registered and active.

Some smart planning and strategic engagement must be implemented with all stakeholders to ensure that Zambia promotes economic growth and higher productivity within the solutions agreed upon.

Options to research how this issue has been handled in Europe with special focus on the United Kingdom and her former colonies across the world, may offer some insights and possible solutions for Zambia, aside from simply following the law of the day.

Across the world, laws are made every day, amended every day, and in some cases repealed every day, when they do not support the aspirations and positive evolution of the people they govern.

Published 20 April 2010

Shooting Ourselves In The Foot

2010-04-13T00:08:00.002+02:00

The common discussion at various economic development tables across the world is the one of ownership, partnership, and equity.

In Zambia this discussion is highly developed and even runs the risk of being over discussed.

Two key factors seem to always surface in the economic development discussion; taking responsibility for ones self whether an individual or a nation, and strategizing to benefit in the medium to long term as opposed to the short term.

Currently, a World Bank diagnostic study is being done on the railway systems in Zambia with a view to finding some way to improve the sector. This very comment suggests that the study is not Zambia owned but World Bank owned, and it smacks of a foreign solution to a local problem. This intuition is flavoured by experiences on the ground in many African countries.

Key benchmarks of the study will include investment requirements, rail transport tariff structures, profitability, competitiveness, and recommendations on the way forward for the railways sector which will incorporate financial investments amongst other logistics.

The four month study is being conducted by the World Bank and pronouncements indicate that the experts will come from the bank and most probably not from Africa.

The ingredients and style of this work have not changed much over the decades as the World Bank and possibly Zambia; continue to perceive that the bank has the knowledge and knowhow to turn things around for the better in the railway sector.

History shows a quite different success rate for World Bank projects around the world, but Africa continues to shoot herself in the foot by ducking the responsibility of taking ownership, having very little equity, and developing hardly any strategy to achieve the desired goals. In other words, let the World Bank study, design, recommend, and finance where possible.

Recent experiences reveal financing pull outs by the World Bank for the Oshiwara rail project in India, and another rail project in Azerbaijan during 2009. In 2009 the Nanguang rail project in China was funded by the World Bank and is expected to be completed by 2014. Indications show that the Chinese are in full control of the project and take full responsibility for its design and completion. There may be some lessons for Africa to learn in these external experiences.

The discussions and debates that the plight of the railway sector in Zambia fuels, is part of the realignment mechanism to engage the country to move from passenger status in the strategy, to driver and prime mover of the development program.

The opportunities that the 2010 World Cup offers to southern Africa are many.

Another possible foot shooting option faces the sub region as motions of price fixing in the airline industry surface in the media. The opportunity of abundant air travel business in the region during 2010 and the strategy of keeping the flow momentum going for the foreseeable future, begin to be undermined when the South African and Zambian Competition Commissions suggest that there may be collusion in price fixing and monopoly practices to maximize profits during the 2010 World Cup season.

In other parts of the world the opportunities for an overwhelming influx of business in the air travel sector would generate options for innovative and capturing products that will serve the public beyond the aftershocks of the World Cup frenzy.

The birth of budget airline services that operate contrary to the conservative and traditional class models for air fares can be experienced in southern Africa during 2010 if a long term business strategy approach is taken.

The tried, tested, and not so profitable flight schedules that leave aircraft parked and non productive at airports during the nights can be challenged this year as more customer segmented schedules can be designed to cater for the wider profiles of air travelers that range from business executives to back packer students on a cheap adventure tour.

The business persons operating in Africa often shoots themselves in the foot and misses the opportunity to truly prosper during times of plenty, but cries foul when life goes back to normal and the state is expected to protect the weak and visionless in a new world where globalization and liberalization are viewed as the cornerstones of positive economic development.

Shooting oneself in the foot is a choice, unlike the popular myth that suggests that it is an act of misadventure and un-intentional action. The long term reality of shooting oneself in the foot is that we soon develop a nation of handicapped people that have limited productivity and rapidly become their own worst enemies.

Published 13 April 2010

Talking Tax

2010-04-06T18:51:00.001+02:00

Last week the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) hosted a Taxpayers Appreciation Day which also marked the end of the business financial year.

The event served to discuss various issues pertaining to tax collection by the ZRA, and to recognize good and consistent tax payers that would be role models for the private sector to encourage voluntary compliance.

It was with this spirit that the ZRA chose to register the theme ‘Recognizing and Encouraging Voluntary Compliance in Revenue Collection’.

The Taxpayers Appreciation Day carried to the private sector various messages which included government’s intolerance to tax evasion and corruption, in addition to recognition that domestic taxes were increasingly growing each year and now accounted for 70 percent of the national budget.

Encouraging pronouncements highlighted the initiatives by the ZRA in establishing a Large Taxpayers Office (LTO) and the Medium and Small Taxpayers offices.

Other interesting programs pursued by the ZRA are the ongoing internal Integrity Committee that focuses on professional conduct of ZRA officers, and the newly introduced electronic payment solution that operates on a commercial banking platform that allows taxpayers to make on-line payments to Customs for taxes in respect to imports. This e-payment facility is open to all importers big or small, and will soon be offered by several commercial banks that would like to provide the service to their customers.

The ZRA has come a long way since their establishment just over 15 years ago. ZRA officers are slowly beginning to be recognized as any other organ of the government machinery, as opposed to the old days when they were labeled an unquestionable extortionist force that preyed on the hard working business person.

The pace at which the ZRA is moving may be too slow to realise the government’s desire to motivate voluntary tax compliance which will rely on taxpayers and all citizens filing tax returns at the end of the financial year as is common in most developed economies.

There is reason for ZRA to fast track voluntary compliance through some pro-active initiatives that will encourage registration for tax and hassle free compliance. It must be recognized that tax registration does not necessarily result in tax payments. This has been acknowledged by the ZRA but it is also generally accepted that tax evasion is much worse than tax delinquency where taxpayers acknowledge that they owe specified taxes to the ZRA but do not have the cash in hand to make the required payments. A payment plan can always be developed to liquidate the debt to ZRA on a negotiated and manageable timetable.

There is a desire to prevent tax evasion, and to encompass the informal sector in the tax base. These goals suggest that the ZRA would incur lower costs in tax collection, and that the formal sector would be less pressurized to pay taxes that are necessary to finance the national budget.

In other words, if more people and companies paid tax, then the tax burden on each person or company would be less. This is a desirable goal especially for the existing taxpayers.

Government has made calls for the ZRA to establish Stakeholders Forums which would become a platform for taxpayers and the ZRA themselves to dialogues, debate, and formulate tax collection policies, procedures, and processes.

These wish lists from government and the ZRA require some investments that will develop the required attitude and culture from both members of the public and private sector, and the tax collection system itself.

First, the ongoing initiatives to simplify tax collection and payment systems are commended.

Second, the efforts in keeping the tax collection machinery in the ZRA operating on professional lines are helpful and go a long way to building partnerships between the taxpayer and the ZRA.

Third, the Revenue Appeals Tribunal has been a positive vehicle for recourse to be accessed by taxpayers that feel the ZRA has treated them unfairly.

Fourth, the establishment of a Stakeholders Forum will be useful in bringing out tax issues faced by the public and private sector, and will also assist the ZRA to communicate more effectively with the taxpayers that they serve.

Fifth, many countries in the region and more prominently South Africa, offer tax amnesties from time to time. These amnesties motivate delinquent taxpayers and tax evaders to clean up and re-register with the aim to be only tax compliant, and to actually pay the taxes that are due. The reasoning behind this initiative is that if a company is operating outside the tax net then they will stay there for as long as they can until they finally liquidate the business to avoid the penalties that may befall them if discovered by the tax authorities. As a result, many companies are voluntary deregistered and many more companies are newly established without the credit worthiness of longer established businesses. These new companies find that they cannot borrow from the banking sector and the country suffers from much slower economic development. The tax amnesties remedy this by allowing the wiping off of the books, and a fresh and committed start is offered to businesses that can keep their business track records and there after become better taxpayers with a more rapid growth rate. ZRA would do well to consider this option to widen the tax base within the formal sector.

Sixth, the challenge of bringing the informal sector into the tax system is no small achievement. It also comes with a price. The price is that if every small trader and individual will pay some form of tax, then the government had better establish a very good system for service delivery to the public which will be the benchmark for returns to the public for tax paid. Demanding tax in itself suggests that the level of accountability to the public will also have to improve to avoid the entire initiative being ignored and undermined by the general public.

Several mechanisms and options are available for collecting tax from the informal sector with simplest being a monthly, or quarterly, or annual payment that is determined by the business level that the informal business is engaged in. A street vendor will be liable for a base level of tax. A Ntemba will pay a slightly higher tax level. A market stall will remit an even higher tax payment, and so on. The innovations in technology now make it possible for names, photographs, and bar codes to be printed on tax receipts, certificates, or badges that can easily be issued at post offices and can be authenticated with handheld bar code readers that may be carried around by tax inspectors.

As the new tax year begins to roll out this month, some of these ideas, innovations, and options may be considered by the ZRA, and with government and public support, Zambia may rapidly fund her own national budget from domestic resources and really put the economic independence that has eluded the nation squarely in the hands of Zambians.

Published 6 April 2010

Travel Expo 2010

2010-03-30T21:42:00.002+02:00

March 25 saw the launch of the Zambia International Travel Expo 2010 at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre.

The event was flagged off by a breakfast event that was graced by a high powered delegation of government and private sector officials which included two Cabinet Ministers and two Deputy Ministers.

The main conference hall in the new wing was filled with invited guests that were treated to some shows on Zambian tourism punctuated by the usual speech making plus dances and songs.

One could not help thinking that if the rich attendance at this launch comprised of potential customers, and if the venue was Cape Town, or Frankfurt, or Paris, or New York, the immediate response would be a flood of inquiries and bookings for ‘Destination Zambia’.

The reality was that the hall was packed with tour operators, lodge owners, hoteliers, car hire company owners, government officials, organizers, and very few people that would actually make the trip to the many tourist destinations in Zambia.

The Expo may have been designed particularly for the purposes of networking amongst the players in the tourism and travel sector, which includes the private sector, government and members of the public.

The opportunities to directly sell packages and options for travel and tourism may have been the consolation side effects of such a large gathering of investors in the sector.

The 150 plus exhibitors made an impressive show and this years Expo outdid itself when compared to the just under 100 participants that exhibited last year.

After some casual discussions with many of the exhibitors, the question of ‘how does Zambia stand to benefit from the upcoming 2010 World Cup?’ soon came up. The common response from the exhibitors was that no deliberate strategy is in place and each investor has to make a private plan to try to bring business to their companies during the forthcoming football months of June and July.

Some airlines have put in place strategies to acquire more aircraft to add more routes to their current flight schedules, and yet other airlines were considering increasing the frequency of flight between Zambia and South Africa, or introducing larger capacity aircraft to service the current flight schedules thereby increasing the passenger traffic during the World Cup 2010.

These are impressive ideas and initiatives but it is plain to see that there is no national strategy on the drawing board and it is up to each business to develop their own independent programs. One cannot expect to see too much success with an individualistic, haphazard, and uncoordinated approach to exploiting the opportunities for both travel and tourism during the World Cup this year.

It was however, refreshing to see such boisterous looking faces that have hope and expectations stamped on their smiles, even though deep down these faces acknowledge that the stream of tourists expected to come to Zambia will not happen by accident or default. Any appreciable increase in tourism this year will only happen by strategic design and meticulous implementation.

Tourism is not a necessity to human well being as compared to water, food, and sleep. Tourism is a luxury that requires to be planned for, budgeted for, and must be an attractive and hassle free experience.

So, we may want to pause for a moment and ask ourselves: Did last week’s International Travel Expo 2010 really help to launch the country into the World Cup 2010 spirit? What can we do to complement and supplement this effort?

One obvious challenge for Zambian tourism in respect to the World Cup is that there has been very little dialogue within the travel and tourism sector on what the opportunities are, and how they can be exploited by the various investors in the sector.

For example, have we had a stakeholders meeting to help us to understand how a World Cup event is run in the preparatory stages, during the actual games, and after the event? Do we appreciate the pattern of expenditure and time management of visitors to a World Cup event? On average how many games does a person commit themselves to watch live in the stadium? What do World Cup visitors do in-between attending chosen games? How do World Cup participating teams use up their time before, during, and after the tournament? Is there a particular way that players relax and recover after a game?

These are just a few of many questions that one may want to ask and interrogate. It is the answers to these questions that make the basis for a strategy to benefit from this years World Cup event.

The answers will input into how many flights need to be put in place between Lusaka and Johannesburg, or Lusaka and Livingstone. The answers will assist Zambia to decide on how a visitor can obtain a visa to Zambia and at what cost. The answers will prepare the Zambian travel and tourism companies to cater for the anticipated influx of new visitors to the country. The answers will challenge the banking industry to consider the installation of Point Of Sale units in lodges, guest houses, travel agencies, and popular tourist attractions. The answers will drive the airlines to consider their air fares into Zambia from South Africa and the region so that more tourists can be attracted to make a detour from the World Cup and visit the Mosi-O-Tunya and other wonders in Zambia. The answers will provoke the private sector to adjust prices of packages and services offered, to levels that would persuade visitors to the sub continent to stop over in Zambia.

It may be this unfinished business that puts the smiles on private sector faces. The smiles on private sector faces may not necessarily be ones that are generated by good strategy and investment, but that of blind hope, unfounded expectations, and of prayer that something will happen to tilt the scales in our favour.

Published 30 March 2010

Regulation And Authority

2010-03-23T19:15:00.000+02:00

Zambia chose to move from a regime of government control to that of free market enterprise. Zambia also chose, on advice from the Bretton Woods institutions, to desist from financing statutory regulatory bodies and introduce self sustainability and profit making in public institutions.

The myth that the removal of government control in economic sectors, and the introduction of profit making in public institutions makes for good development economics, has no solid basis to support the argument.

Most developed economies have intitially started the development cycle by making heavy public sector investments in economic programs as a catalyst for private investors to be attracted and invest in the same programs. When a threashold is achieved whereby private investment exceeds public investments in any sector with a healthy active competition, then the public institutions withdraw from the sector to leave the competiton amongst the private sector such that the businesses remain viable and sustainable due to market forces. Even with the promise of competiton and demand driven price structures, the government still puts in place a public interest watch dog mechanism generally refered to as a Competition Commission that focusses on the maitenance of fair competition and the removal of monopolies.

Europe and the North American sub continent have Anti Trust laws that ensure that no single private company can monopolise a business sector. By contrast, the only institutions that are allowed to hold monopolies are governemnt owned, which include defence research and monetary policy management to name but a few.

The understanding is that an economy can liberlise up to a point, but some form of regulation and authority must be put in place to prevent damage to the economy by unscroupulous business people or dictatorial investors.

The regulators and authorities in these developed economies transformed their role and moved away from being aggressive, excluding, oppressive, and prescriptive. Their new roles were of being supportive, informative, facilitative, inclusive, and collaborative. The driving goal for regulators and authorities is to support economic growth and wealth creation in a hassle free manner yet put public welfare on the top of the agenda.

This is the challenge for Zambia. Regulators and authorities need to transform in mindset, preception, operation, goals, and service delivery.

Public companies are seldom subjected to similar treatment as the private sector by regulators and authorities. The reality on the ground is that public institutions are never held accountable to the people in respect to meeting benchmarks, and no sanctions are generally taken against public companies that do not comply with the regulations of the day.

On the other hand, private companies view regulators and authorities as barriers to doing business rather than partners in developemnt because of the aggresive manner in which these government sanctioned bodies engage with thier private sector customer base.

The typical scenes are those of a regulator or authority threatening to shut down any business enterprise on account of relevant paperwork not being in place. This includes licence and permit renewals that may be in the domain of other agencies that are not demanding immediate renewals due to operational difficulties. Examples of this type of harrassement is evidenced in respect to road tax discs, carbon tax receipts, trading licenses, rezoning permits, health permits, fire and safety permits, and other permits and licences that are affiliated to the construction sector, manufacturing sector, tourism sector, mining sector, agriculture sector, and services sector. Every area of economic development is affected and suffers the same plight of threats and punitive punishments rather than facilitative interaction and the promotion of good business practices.

The situation is compounded with further aggression and punishment when regulators and auhtorities are forced to adopt the self sustainablility paradigm and cost recovery charging for services rendered. Regulators and authorities tend to introduce more nuisance licencing and permits regimes that add to the cost of doing business through the government sanctioned monopolies. These bodies are not accountable to the public in respect to the introduction of new charges and costs, and they seldom look at their own operations in an effort to reduce inefficiencies, over spending, and over employment.

Zambia will soon become an active member of the COMESA Customs Union and will have to compete with member states and other players in the region. The neccessity for regulators and authorities to partner with the private sector in order to make Zambia more productive cannot be over emphasised. The Customs Union is the clarion call for collaboration and engagement that will transform Zambia into a more productive state that will grow its private sector and export into the region.

Zambia has the immediate challenge to go back to the drawing board to redraw the values and responsibilities of the various regulators and authorities such that the private sector can embrace these institutions as partners for development and use them as practically as possible.

Today, managements and their workers band together to ward off the aggression of a regulator or authority. Tomorrow we would like to see these statutory institutions become development partners of the managements of private companies to the extent that the issues brought up can become input for managments to challenge themselves and their workforce on better business practices and professional conduct that will benefit the economy through growth, more employment, and better skilled human resources.

Published 23 March 2010