Deep green and lucrative

Zambia is the world’s second-largest producer of emeralds, after Colombia. It is also home to the world’s largest emerald mine – Kagem, located in the southern part of Zambia’s copper belt and majority-owned by UK-based Gemfields. The Kagem mine accounts for 25% of global production of the green gemstone.

Yet Zambia is well falling below its potential in emerald mining. It has hundreds of dormant small-scale emerald mines in its mineral-rich north-central region. 

And despite official outreach efforts, the country is not attracting large-scale foreign investment. In the words of an official of the Zambia Chamber of Mines, foreign investors are “hardly beating down the door” to develop Zambia’s emerald resources.

In an effort to turn the situation around, in January 2020 the government suspended a 15 % export tax on precious and semi-precious coloured gemstones. The export tax had been in effect for only one year.

The industry cheered the tax break. “This move should attract more investors, so that small-scale miners can better contribute to the economy,” says Victor Kalesha, secretary-general of the Emerald and Semi-Precious Stones Mining Association of Zambia, known as Esmaz. 

“Most of the dormant gemstone mines could be revived” if the government does more to attract investors, he adds.

“We want to thank the government for suspending the export tax,” says Carol Sampa , general manager of Grizzly Mining Ltd., the country’s second largest producer of precious stones.

 

The suspension of the export tax should help Zambia to compete with other gemstone producing countries, such as Colombia and Brazil, which do not impose such a tax.

According to Sampa, a boost in the emeralds sector will benefit the national treasury. For example, her company paid more than $42 million in taxes over the past five years. “I particularly want to highlight our tax contribution in 2019, which we made despite the export tax, which hurt our liquidity” she says.

Tax contributions such as those of her company show that Zambia should focus on developing other minerals beyond its large copper resources, she adds. 

The government seems to agree. “We want to broaden the tax base,” says Paul Kabuswe, minister of mines and minerals development. 

“Right now, the treasury is constrained because it relies on too few tax-paying mining companies. In the gemstone sector, we have only two operating companies – Gemfields and Grizzly – although we have issued many mining licenses in Copperbelt Province.”

Kabuswe notes that more than 500 locally-owned, small-scale emerald mines are dormant. He says he wants to focus on helping them, rather than on granting operating licenses to big foreign companies.

“As a government, we want to ensure that all dormant mines start operating,” he says. “We are looking at tax incentives, especially for local mine owners. This would help them to attract capital investors and start mining. Partnership between local owners and foreign and domestic investors is the way to go.”

Derrick Silimina is a freelance journalist based in Lusaka, Zambia.

derrick.silimina@gmail.com

A Fair to Find Jobs

  

Recruiting staff of a Chinese enterprise based in Zambia at the expo (DERRICK SILIMINA)

By Derrick Silimina

Armed with their resumes, over 200 job-seekers, who were mostly young graduates of the Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia (UNZA) and other institutions of higher learning in the country, prowled the lush grounds of the university’s Great East Road campus of the university, looking for signs of job openings.

While the Confucius Institute at the UNZA located on the outskirts of Lusaka City may not seem as the obvious place to start a job hunt, it has become a pilgrimage site for most university graduates to pursue employment opportunities via its renowned annual job expo.

“I am grateful to the authorities who made it possible to host this annual event because this platform enables many unemployed graduates like myself to get job offers with ease from many Chinese corporate entities that have invested in our country,” said Thandiwe Zulu, one of the young graduates of the Confucius Institute.

A ray of hope

As Africa’s population grows, joblessness on the continent is bringing more pain to the young people, as they have trouble finding decent job opportunities. According to the policy-oriented Mo Ibrahim Foundation, more than 15 million Africans aged 15-24 are unemployed, representing 13.5 percent of that age group.

There is, however, a ray of hope for the unemployed youth in Zambia, with annual job fairs offering a way for the young people to escape unemployment.

The Confucius Institute at the UNZA is one such example. The institute recently held its fourth Jobs and Career Exposition with the aim to bring together companies, especially Chinese enterprises based in the Southern African country, to showcase their strengths and find potential employees.

With the initiative, the institute aims to maintain the synergy between educational institutions and the industry, without any disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as the exposition also facilitates institutions of higher learning to partner with local Chinese firms to provide highly skilled people needed to enhance productivity and growth in the companies.

“We have taken a route to help engage the Chinese enterprises, both public and private, operating in Zambia to link them with the society through our annual job fair, especially with young people who are looking for jobs,” Sande Ngalande, Acting Director of the institute’s Confucius Institute at the UNZA told ChinAfrica.

Ngalande, who is also executive director of the Belt and Road Joint Research Center, noted that the 2021 jobs fair was a successful event as more local Chinese firms turned up to showcase their expertise in a bid to attract would-be employees.

The campus of the Confucius Institute at the UNZA (DERRICK SILIMINA)

Advantages of learning Chinese

Zambia’s blossoming relationship with China, which began more than 50 years ago, has boosted the economy considerably. Today, about 1,000 Chinese companies are operating in Zambia in sectors covering manufacturing, retail, agriculture, infrastructure, health and education.

However, a language barrier between Zambians and Chinese can make communication bumpy. While China makes efforts to train its people in Zambia in English, Zambia’s official language, the barrier remains - particularly in parts of Zambia that use one of the country’s seven official vernacular languages.

The language barrier has created a demand for Chinese-speaking Zambians to help communicate with suppliers and companies personnel in China.

With the help from Zambia’s education officials, China is promoting Chinese language skills in Zambia through the Confucius Institute.

Zulu hinted that studying Chinese language is beneficial as it can solve the problems in the communication between Zambians and Chinese companies operating in the country, as well as help strengthen business relations with China.

Naturally, many Zambian graduates with Chinese language proficiency have found jobs as interpreters, accountants, supervisors and human resources staff in Chinese-owned firms. Others have been hired as senior administration managers, secretaries and line executives liaising with company headquarters in Beijing.

“We should all strive to learn more than one official language. For instance, Chinese language is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world with close to 2 billion speakers. So when you learn Chinese, you double your world,” said Grace Nkombo, 23, a former student at Kabulonga Girls High School, noting that the teaching of Chinese language in Zambian schools is a very serious academic project that can help create jobs, given the large presence of Chinese companies in the country.

Zambian wholesalers and retailers - just like local employees of Chinese-owned companies - also find it useful to be able to speak Chinese. One example is Lillian Chileshe, 30-year-old owner of a small retailing business in Lusaka. She plans to enroll in the Confucius Institute, hoping to deal more effectively with her Chinese suppliers. “Transactions with my Chinese partners will be easier without a language barrier,” Chileshe noted.

Greater opportunities

For the first half of 2021, the trade volume between China and Zambia reached $2.61 billion, increasing by 63 percent from 2020. Zambia’s exports to China rose by 83.1 percent to $2.26 billion. Over the same period, China’s direct investment in Zambia totaled $166 million, Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Li Jie said at an event themed Creating Synergies Between Potential Employers and Prospective Employees in the COVID-19 Era.

In Zambia, there are now greater opportunities than before, thanks to a surge in Chinese companies which have created more avenues for local employment, but the real challenge is how to effectively communicate in Chinese language.

Some of the notable Chinese firms that took part in the just-ended job expo include Camco Group, Wo Long Investments, Huamei Tobacco Ltd., Jiangxi Guoji Corp., Longjian Road and Bridge Co. Ltd, China Railway Seventh Group Zambia Ltd. and China State Construction Engineering Corp.

Other Chinese firms included TopStar Communications Co. Ltd., Sinohydro Corp. Ltd., Chenguang Biotech Zambia Agri-Dev Ltd., and China International Water and Electric Corp.

Speaking at the opening of the job expo, UNZA Acting Dean of Students Grace Tembo said the job expo offers the right platform for graduating students to meet their prospective employers in a relaxed and conducive atmosphere.

Tembo said the Confucius Institute is readily available to offer Chinese language lessons to those who have secured jobs through the job fair, so as to ease communication challenges and enhance the exchange of ideas and skills as they embark on their new careers in the Chinese-owned companies, thereby leading to increased productivity and growth.

“Through the creation of synergies, we hope our students could have more opportunities in the job market despite the difficulties COVID-19 pandemic has brought about. It is hoped that as potential employers, the companies will continue to create space for the young generation who are most affected by lack of employment,” Tembo said.

Learning the Chinese way

 

© stepmap.de

By Derrick Silimina

Over 600 Chinese companies operate in Zambia, mostly in the Copperbelt region and mainly to serve Chinese mining companies, according to Global Risk Insights, a political risk analysis firm.

As of December 2020, Zambia owed the Chinese government more than US$ 23 billion in loans, used for projects and infrastructure building, it adds, noting that this debt creates a risk of economic dependence. 

On the other hand, Zambia benefits mightily from the growing Chinese presence – not only in terms of jobs and increased economic activity, but also in the development of its people’s skills and expertise.

China’s economic projects in Zambia (and other nations) depend in part on enabling good communication between Chinese and local people. Education and training programmes are therefore a major support pillar for the Chinese presence in Zambia and elsewhere.

Thus, it is no accident that China is the largest single provider of university scholarships to students from Sub-Saharan Africa. China awarded 12,000 of the 30,000 scholarships given by the world’s top 50 donor countries, according to UNESCO’s 2020 Global Education Monitoring Report.

Beijing awards about 800 scholarships each year to Zambians to study in China In all, more than 3,500 Zambian students are currently enrolled in a wide range of degree programmes in China, making China the favorite destination for Zambian students wishing to study abroad. 

One of the recipients, Moffat Chifita, recently completed a music degree in China. “I am now living my dream after studying in China,” he says. “This experience will definitely shape my music career.”

China also sponsors study programmes for Zambian students in their own country. The Confucius Institute at the University of Zambia, a Chinese government educational and cultural organisation, has provided Chinese language classes to over 8,000 local students since its establishment in 2010. It also runs cultural programmes and promotes bilateral cultural exchanges.

Thandiwe Chaaba, an executive at the Chinese-owned Hongsen Company in Zambia, which recycles plastic waste into household products, studied Mandarin at the Confucius Institute. 

In addition to providing jobs for locals, Hongsen has taught Zambians important skills, she says. “This plant was among the first to use a certain plastic recycling technology in Zambia. Employees and managers have learned the value of this equipment and how to use it.”

Specific job training is another important element of China’s educational outreach. In the past three years, over 1,500 Zambians including government officials, technicians, scholars, businessmen and journalists have received work-related training in China.

Others have been trained at Chinese-owned enterprises within Zambia. Fredrick Sashi, administrative manager of the Zhongyang Eco-Agriculture Industry Park east of Lusaka, participated in such a programme. “I was trained by my Chinese managers,” says Sashi. “It’s an excellent experience to be entrusted after training with managing the company on behalf of its foreign owners.”

China’s education and training programmes in Zambia are only one element of a much larger network of economic projects. Large Chinese industrial and infrastructure projects in Zambia include the building of new milling plants, the Lower Kafue Gorge Hydropower Plant and the new Ndola International Airport. 

Building up a large group of Chinese-trained Zambians can help to ensure these projects run smoothly.

Derrick Silimina is a freelance journalist based in Lusaka. He focuses on Zambian agriculture and sustainability issues.

derrick.silimina@gmail.com

+260977402031

Online Trading Boom

 

A Lusaka based auto spare parts dealer demonstrates how he does some digital transactions online

By Derrick Silimina

With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging on, e-commerce is booming in Africa with the continent’s rapidly growing Internet users shopping more online.

Enhanced e-payment innovations and technical security solutions are also making it easier for consumers to use e-commerce platforms.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development recently reported that the number of online shoppers in Africa had surged annually by 18 percent since 2014. Rapid Internet penetration through smartphones over the past decade has hugely contributed to the growth of Africa’s e-commerce.

In Nigeria, 81 percent of consumers are shopping more online, while Kenya and Ghana have registered 79 percent of consumers in online purchases. A Mastercard study on consumer spending has revealed that 68 percent of South African consumers are shopping more online since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data from Statista, a leading provider of market and consumer data, show that the total value of e-commerce in Africa reached $16.5 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach $29 billion by 2022.

Growing consumer base

In Zambia, local consumers equally appreciate the value of shopping online. “I usually make orders online for beauty products to stock my hair salon, and after the transaction, my products are delivered within a month through the local agent,” Juliet Mutemwa, an enthusiastic e-commerce businessperson, told ChinAfrica.

“My clients appreciate my services because from a short Internet search on Alibaba’s e-commerce platforms, I can supply quality products to the satisfaction of my customers, and make 100-percent profit [margin], which is not possible if I was to travel abroad to buy the same commodities.”

In Zambia, as in several African countries, e-commerce is extending retail services to small towns and rural areas, where there is limited availability of goods. Certainly, retailers are increasingly leveraging technology to drive sales and to better engage with customers.

John Nkole, an auto spare parts dealer who also shops on Alibaba, one of the leading online platforms for global wholesale trade, said online shopping is the future for entrepreneurs as it drives the wheel of global commerce with ease.

For this reason, the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Zambia-China Economic and Trade Cooperation Zone (ZCCZ), the China Commodities City Overseas Investment (CCCI) and the Belt and Road Joint Research Center (BRJRC) of the University of Zambia to create the Zambia-China Cross-Border E-Commerce Industrial Park.

The signing of the MoU came in the wake of the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, and the launch of African Union Agenda 2063, projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, as well as the initiatives of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Beijing Summit, which are all conducive to advancing trade relations and promoting e-commerce.

“The MoU will further facilitate the establishment of the Zambia-China cross-border e-commerce logistics platform to enable and ease the completion of product transactions and distribution of bonded goods from Zambia, China and the neighboring countries stored in the bonded depot,” ZDA Director General Mukula Makasa said during the virtual MoU signing ceremony in Lusaka on September 19.

Collaboration on e-commerce

Makasa said that the purpose of the MoU is to establish a framework of collaboration aimed at fostering trade relations between China and Zambia, adding that the areas of cooperation include, among others, the establishment of the China-Zambia Cross-Border E-Commerce Training Center.

He disclosed that the institutions involved hope to collaborate on sending staff from Zambia’s well-performing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and outstanding college students to China for training, so that they can master the practical skills for e-commerce.

The director general stated that the collaboration will also help link products of Zambian MSMEs to international buyers through an online portal. Other areas of collaboration include the creation of a platform for the export of high-quality Zambian agricultural side-line products and industrial finished products to neighboring countries and the Chinese market.

Speaking at the same event after the virtual MoU signing ceremony, ZCCZ Chairman Oscar Liao stated that the Chinese economic precinct is composed of two zones with different functions, including Chambishi Multi-Facility Economic Zone (MFEZ) in Copperbelt Province and Lusaka East MFEZ in Lusaka Province.

“We firmly believe that the ZCCZ will continue to flourish in the new era of China- Africa cooperation,” Liao said. 

Liao revealed that as of June 2021, the total number of enterprises in ZCCZ had reached 77, with cumulative sales revenue of more than $22 billion and cumulative tax revenue of more than $800 million, driving local employment to nearly 10,000. 

CCCI African Region General Manager Jack Gao said his company, a leading enterprise in the field of trade and commerce in China, aims to serve the global small and medium enterprises, and build a shared trade service platform.

“The CCCI digital trade hub remains committed to facilitating import and export between Yiwu in China and hub-countries, providing one-stop service to help overseas MSMEs sell products in China and buy from China easily,” he said. 

BRJRC Co-Director Andy Liu Zhao said his center at the University of Zambia is the first specialized research institution on the Belt and Road Initiative in Zambia, jointly established by the University of Zambia and the Belt and Road Institute of Science and Technology of Zambia.

“The center will focus on cultivating human resources for cross-border e-commerce between China and Zambia, nurturing local Zambian influencers, and promoting the development of China-Zambia e-commerce industrial park in collaboration with others,” he noted.

Meanwhile, newly appointed Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Chipoka Mulenga, who recently described the ZDA as the engine of the Zambian economy during a familiarization tour of the agency.

“We are in dire need of new investments and increased exports for job and wealth creation. The government is in a hurry to bring development, create jobs, provide social amenities and elevate the living standards of all Zambians,” Chipoka said.

In terms of exports, the Southern African country is developing a sweet alternative to its reliance on the volatile copper trade: a thriving international market in organic honey produced in the country’s northwestern forests.

From modest beginnings, Zambia’s honey sector has grown to producing approximately 2,500 tons per year and employing over 30,000 people as most of this production is exported, bringing in vital foreign exchange.

Under a honey export protocol reached between Zambia and China in 2018, many Zambian beekeepers and honey traders are accessing the lucrative Chinese market directly.

“There is a huge market potential in the Far East now for organic honey exports, not only to China but to the entire Asian market. E-commerce will definitely enhance and facilitate trade of our products,” said Aaron Kafuta, one of the local processors of raw organic honey and wax from bee farmers in the Miombo forests of the central Zambezian woodlands.

(Reporting from Zambia)

Derrick Silimina is an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Lusaka, Zambia. He is the former editor of one Zambia's leading agricultural publications and is currently an executive writer with Solwezi Today Magazine and This is Zambia Magazine, one of the top business and Investment magazines in the country. 

- derrick.silimina@gmail.com

Building a better gateway

By Derrick Silimina

Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania, all on the Indian Ocean south of the Horn of Africa, are in a race for dominance in the international cargo-handling business.

The three East African nations are upgrading their seaports by modernizing cargo-handling equipment, deepening berths where ships are moored, improving cargo terminals and strengthening links with inland road and rail networks.

Among the biggest such projects is under way at the port of Dar es Salaam, which handles 90 % of Tanzania’s international cargo. The upgrade, called the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project, was launched in 2017 with a World Bank loan of $345 million plus a $12 million grant. The project is planned for completion in 2024.

The port is a major player in the region. About 35 % of its throughput travels onward to neighboring landlocked nations including Zambia, Malawi and Burundi. But the port is reaching the limits of its capacity. Long queues for loading and unloading ships – caused by obsolete equipment and inefficient processes – raises costs for maritime carriers and for their customers, the cargo owners say.

“Our automobile business depends on this port’s efficiency and its ability to process cargo intended for Zambia,” explains Webster Mulambia, chairman of the Car Dealers Association of Zambia. “This project will speed up cargo handling and customs clearance, which will lower our cost of doing business.” Ruth Chinyimba, a dealer in spare automobile parts at Lusaka’s Town Centre Market, adds: “The rehabilitation of the Dar es Salaam port will help my business. My customs logistics will be done with ease.”

Currently, ships carrying cargo from across the world queue up for an average of 10 days before they can be unloaded. It takes another 10 days to unload cargo from large vessels, clear it through customs and get it onto trucks or freight trains.

“My merchandise takes two months to be delivered and this affects my cash flow,” says Reagan Nkamba, a Zambian importer of Chinese-made smartphones. “As you know, in business time is money.”

Looking at the broader picture, Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa says the upgrade will help Tanzania to compete with neighboring countries in making the most of their strategic location on trade routes between Africa, South Asia and the Far East. “This project will enable Tanzania to make the most of its geographical opportunities and will stimulate economic growth,” he said recently when presenting his 2021-22 budget proposal to parliament.

Derrick Silimina is a freelance journalist based in Lusaka. He focuses on Zambian agriculture and sustainability issues.
derrick.silimina@gmail.com

Namibians turn to Chinese medical therapy

A Chinese TCM practitioner attends to an African patient battling with swollen feet

By Derrick Silimina

In its quest to enhance the health care infrastructure and medical facilities in Africa, China continues to boost medical cooperation in a number of ways with Africa.

Over the years, the Asian economic giant has gone an extra mile to assist most African nations in building their medical institutions, providing medicine and equipment, assisting in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, particularly malaria, dispatching medical teams to Africa to provide medical care and trainings, and offering scholarships to African students to study medicine in China, among others.

Since 1963, more than 21,000 Chinese health professionals have been sent to Africa to support local programs, having benefited about 220 million patients, according to figures released by the National Health Commission of China.

Sharing experience learnt from its domestic successes is a key element of China's health cooperation with Africa. For instance, when the first COVID-19 case was confirmed on the African continent, China, despite being ravaged by the virus then, rushed to help African nations by wholeheartedly providing medical supplies and sharing health experience.

As the Chinese medical workers shuttle back and forth between China and African countries to help prevent the outbreak of diseases, their curative ingenuity offers potential opportunities for health investment, capacity building, knowledge sharing on disease threats, and approaches to enhance health governance.

A part of this health cooperation, China has also been introducing the age-old practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to countries across Africa.

As TCM grows in demand internationally, medical experts say a growing number of African patients are turning to the therapy, becoming a new trend in the nearly six-decade China-Africa medical cooperation.

Adoption of TCM in Namibia

Mable Haufiku, 32, had almost lost hope of recovering from her persistent migraine headaches after several conventional medical treatments; but thanks to TCM, she now has a reason to smile.

"I can testify that acupuncture treatment is real and effective because this medical therapy provided by the Chinese medical team has given me a second chance in life with its miraculous effect," Haufiku said with confidence.

Many Namibians with persisting ailments have embraced TCM, a therapy which has proven to be effective in enhancing the quality of life for many local people in Africa.

At Katutura State Hospital located in the heart of Namibia's capital Windhoek, people can avail quality medical care. Together with Windhoek Central Hospital, Katutura is a state-run medical facility in the Windhoek area, and Namibia's only general referral hospital.

"I turned to acupuncture therapy following severe backache and pain in my legs. The Chinese medical team's timely and caring delivery of TCM has given me hope as I have fully recovered," Leonard Nambahu, a resident of Windhoek, told ChinAfrica.

Acupuncture.com, a Chinese online medical platform, defines acupuncture as an age-old healing technique of TCM in which needles are inserted into energy points on the human body. TCM is one of the world's oldest forms of medical practice and includes a range of treatments from herbal concoctions and acupuncture to Tai Chi. With a history of thousands of years, TCM therapy includes various forms of massage, exercise, and diet therapy, among others.

Medical assistance team

The 13th Chinese medical team to Namibia has delivered TCM treatments to more than 7,000 locals across the country during an 18-month visit to Namibia between January 2020 and July 2021. Some of the diseases they attended to include muscle and joint pains, paralysis, and migraine, according to local health authorities.

Tina Kazenene, another resident of Windhoek, disclosed that she had introduced TCM treatment to three of her family members, all of whom have been treated and have seen impressive improvement in their health.

"The Chinese doctors have indeed left memories in the hearts of the people they treated here in Namibia, as many patients had given up hope," Kazenene stated.

The Namibian Government has since lauded the Chinese medical team that was stationed at Katutura State Hospital in Windhoek.

Minister of Health and Social Services Kalumbi Shangula commended the Chinese medical team for their diligent and professional service, noting that the knowledge and skills have also greatly contributed to the government's efforts in accelerating the access to health and ensuring the health and well-being of the nation.

"Now that the term of the medical team from Zhejiang Province [of China] has come to an end, allow me to express my sincerest appreciation to the team for the services rendered to the Namibian people because one of the consistent and much-valued support over the years came through the Chinese medical teams," Shangula said.

Namibian Founding President Sam Nujoma noted, "The People's Republic of China is indeed Namibia's all-weather friend," and stated that the sustained quality service delivered by the Chinese medical team further cements China-Namibia ties.

Fang Lianqiang, medical team leader of the outgoing 13th batch, said, "It makes one happy to impact the lives of others positively through providing medical service."

Apart from treating patients, the Chinese medical staff also ran a skill exchange program to build the capacity of intern doctors at the University of Namibia's School of Medicine and made further contributions to the patients by donating anti-epidemic materials to the hospital in a bid to fight COVID-19.

For this reason, Chinese medical workers have won admiration from local officials and medical staff in their mission to provide treatment for various ailments that have claimed lives in the country.

Certainly, TCM treatment is becoming one of China's distinguished medical contributions in Africa in general and Namibia in particular, especially in far-flung places where there aren't enough medicine or medical equipment supplies.

"Chinese medical teams have lifted the level of service in our hospital," said Nelago Amagulu, Medical Superintendent at Katutura State Hospital. 

Reporting from Zambia

Derrick Silimina is a freelance journalist based in Lusaka. He focuses on Zambian agriculture and sustainability issues.
derrick.silimina@gmail.com

WhatsApp : +260977402031

A Rising Tide of Hope

 

© stepmap.de

By Derrick Silimina

Hakainde Hichilema was finally elected president of Zambia in August 2021 after unsuccessfully contesting five previous elections. Hichilema – a cattle rancher, businessman and politician representing the United Party for National Development (UPND) – unseated the long-entrenched Patriotic Front (PF) regime by winning 59 % of the vote. He defeated former President Edgar Lungu by over a million votes.

Voters across the country were jubilant after Hichilema won the election. Entrepreneurs in particular are pinning their hopes on Hichilema’s promises to revive the economy. The new president is popularly known as “HH” or as “Bally”, an informal way to address a person as one’s father.

In the run-up to the election voters had grown disenchanted with the Patriotic Front. The previous regime took office in 2011 promising to cut taxes and foster job creation. But it largely failed to deliver on those promises.

Disappointment with the PF was especially strong among entrepreneurs. Many of them accused the former regime of extorting illegal levies from small businesspeople such as market traders and bus owners. Critics pointed to rampant corruption under the PF, which slowed economic activity.

One such critic is Morgan Chibuye, a bus driver at Lusaka’s intercity bus station. “The PF regime made our business unattractive,” he says. “If a bus driver refused to pay off thugs posting as revenue collectors, he was blacklisted and prevented from loading his bus. This discouraged bus owners from entering or staying in the business.”

Entrepreneurs and local officials expect this situation to improve soon under the new government. “The new government’s policy direction will enable the City Council to collect revenues properly,” says Alex Mwansa, town clerk of the Lusaka City Council. “This will help us to maintain the bus terminal.”

Other sectors also suffered under the former regime. Extortion used to be a daily burden, says Sara Mofya, a mobile money agent at the Kamwala market in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital and largest city. “The PF’s party operatives would come around twice a week and extort money from market traders,” she says. “I had to pay them if I wanted to continue operating my business.”

The new regime promises to stop such practices. “We will be available to listen and to support you,” Hichilema said to citizens and entrepreneurs during his inaugural speech. He pointed to his own background as a businessman with interests in cattle ranching, tourism, health care and finance, to show that he understands entrepreneurs’ concerns.

Small and mid-sized enterprises are engines of job creation and economic growth, Hichilema emphasizes. “We have created the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterprise Development to facilitate the creation and growth of your businesses,” he wrote on his Twitter feed recently.

The new administration’s economic challenges are considerable. Zambia faces slow economic growth, high unemployment, heavy national debt and fiscal deficits and double-digit inflation. In addition, the country’s currency is volatile and interest rates charged to small businesses are high.

A key to solving these problems is to promote entrepreneurship and job creation, the new president and his loyalists say. “We want to have a good partnership with small and mid-sized businesses,” says Elias Mubanga national youth mobilization chairman for the UPND. “When they succeed, we all succeed.”

Derrick Silimina is a freelance journalist based in Lusaka. He focuses on Zambian agriculture and sustainability issues.
derricksilimina@gmail.com