Magic Plots

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

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

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

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

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

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

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