Sisters in Africa debunk COVID-19 vaccine myths

 

Sr. Dr. Lucy Hometowu, a member of the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church, educates the parishioners in Ho Dome, a town in the Volta Region of Ghana. She is also the COVID-19 vaccine campaign coordinator of her congregation's medical team. (Damian Avevor)

By Doreen Ajiambo, Derrick Silimina 

It is noon, and Elijah Nayoo takes his first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at Akrofu, a town some 84 miles northeast of this country's capital. 

His decision to get vaccinated followed a massive education and awareness campaign by religious sisters that encouraged him and thousands of others to get vaccinated against the virus. Nayoo received the vaccine at Mater Ecclesiae Hospital in Akrofu, run by the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church.

Before, Nayoo believed that the vaccine was unsafe and had severe side effects on human bodies, thus vowing never to take "the jab," as it is referred to in many African countries.

"I couldn't believe that one day I would receive the COVID-19 vaccine because I have always had a negative perception about the vaccines," said the 36-year-old father of two, who works as an accountant in Accra. He got his first dose at the end of January.

Religious sisters in the West African nation of over 31 million people have been working hard to debunk COVID-19 vaccine myths that are rampant, ranging from denial that the virus exists to various false side effects. 

As of Feb. 16, just over 15% of the country's population is fully vaccinated, according to the Coronavirus Resource Center at Johns Hopkins University.

"I am thankful to the sisters for their key intervention towards containing the pandemic," said Nayoo, explaining that through the education he received from the sisters, he has been able to speak to his family members and friends to take their jabs, which they have willingly received without any fear or panic. A sister who is a nurse administered the vaccine. "The campaign messages changed my mind, and that of other people to avail themselves for the vaccine," he said. 

The information provided by the sisters was important in "demystifying the myth about the negative effects of the vaccines.”

Sr. Cecilia Kudexa, a member of the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church, educates people on a ferry in the Afram Plains Eastern Region, Ghana. She works together with Sr. Dr. Lucy Hometowu in creating awareness about the COVID-19 vaccines. (Damian Avevor)

Sr. Lucy Hometowu, superior general of the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church, said vaccine myths in Ghana and other African countries had led many citizens to forego vaccinations as virus cases and deaths are rising fast in the continent amid a fourth wave of infections.

"We have undertaken educative campaigns to demystify the myth surrounding the vaccines," said Hometowu, who is also an obstetrician and gynecologist. "Our sensitization campaign helped increase the number of people who went for the jabs and got vaccinated with Moderna, AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines."

Hometowu said that when they launched the Catholic Sisters COVID-19 Vaccine Ambassadors Campaign, meant to encourage people to get vaccinated against COVID-19, people were reluctant to get the vaccine despite the government's efforts to ensure there were enough doses in the country.

The campaign led by the Conference of Major Superiors of Religious in Ghana in collaboration with the Vatican COVID-19 Commission is to create awareness, educate, sensitize and undertake advocacy on vaccine safety and adherence to the protocols. 

The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, a U.S. charitable foundation established in 1944 by the hotel entrepreneur, sponsors the initiative. The foundation provides grants to nonprofit organizations in seven program areas, including its Catholic Sisters program for the education and training of Catholic sisters, and to support their human development work in Africa, the U.S. and other regions globally. (The foundation is a major funder of Global Sisters Report.)

Hometowu said the sisters all over the country are using the Vatican toolkit of consistent and factual communication strategies for the campaigns to "combat misinformation and disinformation related to COVID-19 and ensure accurate information is distributed about life saving vaccines."

"The campaign being undertaken by hundreds of sisters from various congregations in designated areas is to complement the government and the National Catholic Health Service [a faith-based health service provider owned by the Catholic Church] COVID-19 response," she said, noting that 800 sisters are participating in the campaign.

The vaccination education effort by Catholic sisters in Ghana is also happening in other African countries.

Sr. Dr. Lucy Hometowu, the COVID-19 vaccine campaign coordinator of the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church medical team, poses for a photo with the youths at her local parish carrying a flier with a vaccine awareness message in Ho Dome, a town in the Volta region of Ghana. (Damian Avevor)

In March of last year, the Catholic Sisters Initiative at the Hilton Foundation partnered with the Vatican COVID-19 Commission to aid the church in mitigating the devastating impacts of the COVID-19 virus in Ghana, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia. Religious sisters in the four countries started campaigns to encourage millions of citizens to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

The sisters' initiatives to educate and encourage people to get vaccinated as the best means to fight the virus have paid off. 

Thousands of people have availed themselves at various centers run by the sisters to receive the vaccine and avoid contracting the deadly virus, said Sr. Jane Wakahiu, associate vice president of program operations and head of the Catholic Sisters program at the Hilton Foundation.

"The project has been very successful. Thousands of people have accepted taking vaccines because they have seen religious sisters themselves taking the vaccines, and nothing bad happened to them, which is a success for me," said Wakahiu, a member of the Little Sisters of St. Francis.

Sr. Jane Wakahiu, associate vice president of program operations and head of Catholic Sisters at the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, says the Catholic Sisters COVID-19 Vaccine Ambassadors Campaign has helped thousands of African residents to be vaccinated. (GSR/Doreen Ajiambo)

Wakahiu said the foundation allocated $10 million to the program so that sisters working in health facilities can be imparted with knowledge about COVID-19 and vaccines and disseminate the same message to the communities they serve. 

The campaigns involved sisters going to homes of vulnerable people, slums, rural communities and market centers, and the mobilization of community leaders, churches and mass media.

"The reason for us starting this initiative [Catholic Sisters COVID-19 Vaccine Ambassadors Campaign] was to advocate and educate people about the vaccine because people had a lot of myths," she said. 

The program has since been expanded to other countries including India, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. "Therefore, the sisters needed to provide clear education about the vaccine to reduce hesitancy. The other thing we needed was to increase the vaccine uptake so that more people can take in the vaccine, and this is in line with the Catholic social teachings to reach out to the most vulnerable and most poor who could not access the vaccine."

In Ghana, for example, between Dec. 18 to Jan. 14, sisters convinced more than 1,700 people to get the vaccine. Ghana has administered over 12 million doses of coronavirus vaccines so far.

"Through the education and advocacy by the sisters, the people had a change of mind and were vaccinated," said Sr. Mary Consolata Ntenye of the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church, who works with Hometowu. "The government, politicians and health professionals in Ghana have put in much effort and resources in procuring these vaccines for the nation, and as citizens, it's our civic duty to get vaccinated to protect ourselves and others, our families, friends, loved ones, coworkers and above all to bring an end to the pandemic in the world."

Sr. Seraphine Agorti, a member of the Sisters of Mary Mother of the Church, administers the COVID-19 vaccine to a beneficiary who accepted to be vaccinated after they convinced him through education. She works together with Sr. Dr. Lucy Hometowu in creating awareness about the COVID-19 vaccines. (Photo by Damian Avevor)

In Zambia, religious sisters have carried out a vaccine campaign that has helped reduce severe illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths. The program under the Zambia Association of Sisterhoods, or ZAS, umbrella started in June 2021, targeting 1,200 healthcare providers, including Catholic nuns and citizens.

The southern African country of over 18 million people has administered about 2.5 million doses of COVID vaccines so far, with about 9.8% of the population fully vaccinated. Sr. Astridah Banda, a member of Dominican Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, said the sisters had contributed a lot to the number of people who have been vaccinated in the country. 

Many people had been hesitant to take the vaccine because of a lack of adequate information on the vaccine's safety and effectiveness, she said, adding that the sisters raised awareness among members of the general public to come out and receive the jab.

Banda, the project coordinator of ZAS, said she has been running a show on Radio Maria: Yatsani Voice, dubbed the "COVID-19 Awareness Program," to share critical health information about the pandemic and also dispel vaccine myths in the country.

"Through our influence, community members have been vaccinated, and because of that, I have seen many of our colleagues get the vaccine, and it's good that the response is so far overwhelming as people are now proud to state publicly that they are fully vaccinated," said Banda, who is also a social worker by profession.

Sr. Astridah Banda, a Dominican Missionary Sister of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, carries a COVID-19 vaccine awareness campaign in the streets of Lusaka, Zambia's capital. She also hosts a radio show entitled "COVID-19 Awareness Program," where she disseminates educational messages about COVID-19 vaccines in local languages to reach the communities in rural areas where there is little access to information. (Derrick Silimina)

In Kenya, sisters through the Association of Sisterhoods of Kenya, or AOSK, have been raising public awareness and fighting myths around COVID-19 vaccines through radio broadcasts, presentations, asking priests to include information during Masses, and the distribution of printed materials to reach around five million people.

The East African nation of nearly 54 million people has administered more than 15.4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines so far and 13.5% of the population is fully vaccinated. Since the launch, the AOSK has worked through 80 sister-run health facilities with 240 sisters across the country to reach out to millions of Kenyans.

"The vaccine uptake has increased in our hospitals," said Sr. Regina Nthenya Ndambuki, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Mombasa, who is also a nurse and a psychological counselor. "Before, some of our health care (facilities) could only vaccinate 10 people a day, but nowadays the number has gone up to 50 to 70 in a day."

The East African nation of Uganda has experienced a low rate of vaccinations due to myths and misconceptions about the effects of vaccines. In a country of over 45 million people, it is estimated that roughly 5% of citizens have been vaccinated. Religious sisters have intensified the vaccination campaign to increase vaccine uptake.

Meanwhile, the foundation's goal has also been to train and prepare sisters who work in the health care systems in the various countries to deal with other future pandemic and non-communicable diseases.

"We didn't want sisters to come together just for the COVID-19 crisis," said Angelique Mutombo, senior program officer, Catholic Sisters (Africa) at the Hilton Foundation. "We are very aware that there are also noncommunicable diseases that sisters could be working on, like high blood pressure, diabetes among others," she said.

Mutombo said registering a network of religious sisters working in every country's health care system would help sisters swiftly respond to any other type of pandemic in a coordinated way to protect life on the frontlines without being at risk.

"Our whole idea was to bring the sisters who work in the health care system into a network to respond to future pandemics in a very coordinated way," she said.

Doreen Ajiambo

Doreen Ajiambo is the Africa/Middle East correspondent for Global Sisters Report. Follow her on Twitter: @DoreenAjiambo.

Damian Avevor

Damian Avevor is a contributor to Catholic News Service and Global Sisters Report.

Derrick Silimina

Derrick Silimina is an award-winning multimedia journalist based in Lusaka, Zambia. His work has appeared on many media platforms in Zambia and abroad.

Batswana pupils access quality education

 

By Derrick Silimina

While the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted education across the world, the impact of school closures has been much worse in developing countries where most pupils lack access to quality education.

It is said that improving access to quality education, particularly in Africa, is the panacea and permanent cure for socio-economic ills on the continent.

According to the Observer Research Foundation, an international policy think tank, there was a learning crisis in Botswana even before COVID-19 shuttered schools, as a third of grade five pupils in 2017 were unable to do basic subtraction and a fifth were unable to read a simple paragraph. This learning crisis is likely worsened by school closures due to the pandemic.

For this reason, in its quest to make education easily accessible to local school-age children, China has embarked on the construction and opening of grant-aided primary school facilities in Botswana, a move that can be seen as a perfect symbol of the blossoming China-Botswana bilateral relations.

Game changer

These state-of-the-art academic facilities have since become a game changer in some parts of Botswana, an initiative that is contributing to the delivery of quality education among local learners in the Southern African country.

“I am happy to see my child, who is attending Mmopane Primary School, has access to modern academic facilities like a computer lab, and is now able to operate a computer with ease. Thanks to the Chinese aid, this gesture will definitely sharpen my child’s academic comprehension,” Melody Mogotsi, a parent from Kweneng District, told ChinAfrica.

Mmopane Primary School, one of the four primary schools to receive grants from China thus far, is a true definition of what quality education means in Botswana. The other three comprise Kubung Primary School, Serowe Primary School and Kazungula Primary School.

The China-aided schools are well furnished with computer labs, science labs, disabled-friendly facilities in areas such as toilets, sick bays, libraries and dining halls, as well as football, basketball, and netball fields.

Lack of adequate investment in educational facilities hampers access to good education, a common trend in Botswana, which compels many children to drop out of school, according to local education experts.

It is believed that dropout rates have decreased in some primary schools. However, in rural areas, the way of life of the communities exacerbates the dropout rate since children may leave school to help their parents during the harvesting and planting seasons. 

Some may be affected by migratory patterns of semi-nomadic communities, language barriers and economic pressures, especially the boys, while at the secondary school level, teenage pregnancy is a bigger reason for girls to drop out.

Katlego Itumeleng, 15, from Mogoditshane, a small town located on the outskirts of Botswana’s capital Gaborone, intended to study computer science. But lack of a computer at her previous school nearly prevented her from realizing her dream.

Not until Itumeleng was enrolled at Mmopane Primary School did she see light at the end of the tunnel.

“Many thanks to China for this facility [computer lab] at our school as my passion for computer studies will be realized in future,” said Itumeleng.

The new Mmopane Primary School is a turnkey project with 22 classrooms and supporting facilities and buildings. 

Once completed, the modern school will accommodate over 850 students and will provide a good study environment for young learners in Mmopane and its neighboring communities.

Ketiwe Bonolo, one of the learners at Kubung Primary School located in the suburb of Maun, a town in northwest Botswana, said the fact that the facility is well equipped with a library motivates her to study hard and helps her pass the final exams with ease, unlike other education facilities where a school library is non-existent.

“What inspired me to come and enroll at this school is its well-equipped library with books. I like studying and this will make it easier,” Bonolo added.

Strong support

Kubung Primary School Headmistress Esther Maokisa noted that being on the priority list of Chinese grant-aided schools has helped the facility excel in academic and co-curricular activities, so much so that the school has been considered among the most excellent in the country since 2012.

“This is a beautiful school indeed. We thank the Chinese Embassy for this great initiative they have embarked on to improve education in our beloved country Botswana!” said Maokisa.

She noted that in 2018, for instance, her school scored an average 97.3 percent in the national Primary School Leaving Examination. It scored 75 percent and 83.3 percent in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Thanks to the joint efforts of the teachers and students, with the strong support from the Chinese Embassy and Botswana education authorities, Kubung Primary School has maintained first-class teaching quality and cultivated generations of outstanding students since its establishment.

Arguably, this ambitious initiative is indeed helping enhance the delivery of quality education in Botswana, and if this partnership lasts, China’s grant-aided school legacy in the Southern African country could stretch far beyond its borders.

On October 15, 2019, the ground-breaking ceremony for Kazungula Primary School was held in north Botswana’s Kasane Town. It is the fourth primary school project aided by the Chinese Government. Upon completion, the school is expected to host 560 students and is anticipated to improve local education.

Recently, Charge d’Affaires at the Chinese Embassy in Botswana Wang Bangfu paid a visit to Mmopane Primary School and urged the students to study hard and make good use of their time in the new classrooms.

Meanwhile, Mmopane Primary School headteacher Gagoitsiwe Marata expressed her gratitude for China’s assistance in building such a beautiful school and pledged full utilization of the facilities to provide excellent education service for the local community.

The embassy also donated a batch of masks, T-shirts and children’s books to the school in support of its fight against COVID-19 and teaching activities.

Chinese Ambassador to Botswana Wang Xuefeng said that the Chinese grant-aided schools represent the bilateral cooperation on basic education, manifesting the China-Africa community with a shared future.

The Chinese envoy stressed that as the development of China-Botswana relations has entered a fast lane, there will be new opportunities for cooperation between the two countries in the field of education. 

China will assist Botswana with more schools, government scholarships and more exchanges with the Ministry of Basic Education.

Derrick Silimina is a freelance journalist based in Lusaka, Zambia.
derrick.silimina@gmail.com

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