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Financial challenges have hit Levy Mwanawasa stadium. Mwape Kasanda (Levy Mwanawasa Assistant Director) recently revealed :
"We are faced with financial challenges in maintaining the stadium because the funds that we are given monthly are not enough for us to maintain this facility. We therefore call upon you Members of Parliament (MPs) to push for the increase of budgetary allocation to the stadium so that we can manage the facility with efficiency it deserves.."
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There are two key conclusions we draw from the above chart. First, that unemployment is largely concentrated in urban areas. Secondly, that young people are particularly affected. What is interesting though is that poverty levels are lower in urban areas compared to rural areas, which probably suggests that potential policy prescriptions for poverty reduction may not necessarily be the same as policies for reducing unemployment - at least at the national level. But there's a huge caveat here : "rural employment" includes a high degree of seasonal "self employment". Further complicating the policy response.
The chart is taken from the the recent report - Using safety nets to accelerate poverty reduction and share prosperity in Zambia.
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By Chola Mukanga
The government this week announced that fuel prices will go up by 21% after removing the subsidies. The removal of subsidies is an excellent development despite its short term costs. Zambians were always paying twice. Consumers paid high fuel prices and taxpayers paid for subsidies to keep an inefficient system in place.
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The recent National Constitution Convention adopted Article 88 (g) in the Draft Constitution for Parliament to enact legislation to provide for funding of political parties. All the NGOs joined the political bandwagon to support this most reckless and shameful of proposals.
Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) executive director MacDonald Chipenzi said "funding of political parties is not a new phenomenon because several political parties across the world are funded and this can help our political parties to foster democracy and multi-partyism". Eddie Chombani from Anti-Voter Apathy Project (AVAP) said funding would assist political parties to establish themselves valuably and be able to compete favourably while championing democracy.
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The much anticipated new Statutory Instrument 32 of the Bank of Zambia (Monitoring of Balance of Payments) Regulations, 2013. This was issued this week and comes into May 16th, 2013. Huge thanks to the reader who made this available to us.
SI32 Bank of Zambia (Monitoring of Balance of Payments) Regulations 2013
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By Chola Mukanga
Vice President Guy Scott recently observed that the key challenge we face in rooting out corruption is that it is cultural: "We are a country of thieves; people steal money meant for development....honest in public administration is needed in this country not where big people are eating and yet you poor people are suffering. We have to clean up this culture of thieving...".
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The Zambian Watchdog revealed recently that Government has borrowed US$19.5 million from China to resume "making bombs, bullets and gunpowder at a military location in Serenje district". It quoted Defence Deputy Minister Davis Mwila during his tour to Brazil who said that the government is "recapitalising Mupepetwe, an ammunition manufacturing facility located in Serenje District.' The site was allegedly created by Kenneth Kaunda's UNIP during the independence struggles in the region.... to produce and supply bombs (landmines) and bullets to liberation movements in the region". But after it was eventually scaled down. More detail via Zambian Watchdog.
Copyright © Zambian Economist 2013
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Copper prices have been falling in recent months, and if truth be told they have been falling since 2011. They have lost about $3000 per tonne over the last two years. That fall has coincided with a slowdown in China's growth - and naturally all commodities have been taking a battering.
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An helpful chart from Jayne & Hichaambwa's presentation on The De-Linking of Agricultural Growth and Poverty Reduction . The pattern is clearly that fertilizer support program (FSP) has largely followed political victories, in effect acting as a reward or "retrospective bribe". However, one could also interpret this as politicians doing their bit to "respond" to their constituency. Which presumably is a good thing since we want them to listen to people.
Are they following the masses or are they driving the policy? Its probably a bit of both. Especially given that FSP is predicated on achieving sustainable maize prices to keep the urban masses on the leash. What matters of course in the end is whether FSP and FRA policies are coherent in the long term. The answer to that seems be be no - as ...
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Government recently signed a KR150 million (US$29.8 million) loan agreement with the World Bank to "enable small scale farmers improve agriculture productivity and boost food security". The long term loan facility would be spent on agricultural productivity programmes for the Agricultural Productivity Programme for the Southern Africa (APPSA). More detail via Lusaka Times.
Copyright © Zambian Economist 2013
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