Financial inclusion by phone

By Derrick Silimina

The use of mobile money – funds transferred over digital platforms accessed by mobile phones – is taking off in Zambia.

According to the Bank of Zambia, the country’s central bank, the number of mobile money users on the country’s network platforms grew to over 8.6 million in 2020, compared to 4.85 million in 2019. That represents a year-on-year increase of 77%.

At the same time – and not coincidentally – more and more Zambians are gaining access to financial services in general, whether provided by an online platform or a physical bank. According to the 2020 FinScope Survey carried out by FinMark Trust, a South African NGO, access to banking services – known as financial inclusion – in Zambia grew from 59.3 % to 69.4 % between 2015 and 2020.

This growth was mainly due to the spread of mobile money, according to Dr Francis Chipimo, the central bank’s deputy governor for operations.

Mobile money platforms are essentially online banks operated by one of Zambia’s mobile-phone network operators – Airtel, MTN or Zamtel. 

Subscribers can move money to, or receive money from, other subscribers who have digital money accounts on the same platform, using secure text messages. Customers can also pay bills online, using money they previously deposited into their digital accounts.

These online transactions are backed up by real-world network agents who take cash deposits from unbanked customers and credit the money to those customers’ accounts, to be used for future payments. Agents also pay out cash to unbanked recipients of online payments.

Zambia has more than 100,000 registered mobile-money agents providing these cash in/cash out services. “The mobile money solution has undoubtedly created jobs for people like me,” says Sara Chola, an agent based in Lusaka’s Kamwala market. “We depend on this sector for survival.”

While mobile money offers services to millions of unbanked people, the current system has a drawback: Transferring money to a user on a different platform from one’s own can be a challenge. “Lack of interoperability in Zambia is a barrier to mobile money and therefore to financial inclusion,” comments Financial Sector Deepening (FSD), a nonprofit organisation.

Indeed, Zambia has a long road ahead to full financial inclusion. According to Zambia’s National Financial Inclusion Strategy paper for 2017–2022, only about 60 % of Zambians have access to financial services, and nearly two-thirds of those who have access don’t use those services. This compares to financial inclusion rates of 72 % in Kenya and 43 % in Uganda.

Current users of Zambia’s mobile-money networks, however, seem satisfied. “For me, accessing my account by mobile phone is a good deal, much easier than it was before,” says Joe Mutemwa, a mobile-money account holder from Western Province.

“My mobile-money account helps me to grow my enterprise at lower cost, whereas a regular bank account has monthly charges,” says Thelma Chinyama, a Lusaka based entrepreneur.

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

Zambia’s 2022 Economic Outlook: From Rebound to Recovery

BY MBUYOTI SILIMINA

Around the world, households and firms have gradually adapted to life with coronavirus. Although the pandemic is not over, economies have become more resilient.

According to analysts, the global economy is projected to rebound to over 4 percent in 2022 against a contraction of about 4.3 percent in 2020. The optimistic growth projection is mainly based on the gradual easing of restrictive measures put in place to tackle COVID-19.This is expected to boost consumer and business confidence and contribute to the recovery of global supply chains with a positive impact on demand, trade, consumption, investment and financial conditions.

The economic recovery is envisaged to be uneven and likely to differ across countries contingent on the extent of economic damage, effectiveness of policy support and severity of health shocks.

From now onwards, the war cry will be economic growth, economic growth and economic growth.

In the first quarter of 2021, the Bank of Zambia signaled its intention to progressively tighten its monetary policy stance in order to bring escalating inflation back to the 6 to 8 percent target range and anchor inflation expectations over the medium-term. 

However, implementation of complementary and strong fiscal policy adjustment, whose key parameters are clearly outlined in the country’s Economic Recovery Programme, remains critical to restoring macroeconomic stability.

According to the Zambia Statistics Agency (ZamStats), the annual inflation rate slowed to an eight month low in September 2021 declining by 2.3 percent from 24.4 percent recorded in August 2021 to 22.1 percent.

ZamStats Interim Statistician-General Mulenga Musepa attributed the decrease in the annual rate of inflation to price movements in both food and non-food items. This means that on average, prices of goods and services increased by 22.1 percent between September 2020 and September 2021.

Since inflationary pressures decelerated in September, food price growth slowed down from an all-time high in view of the improved supply of food, particularly maize and wheat, following a good crop harvest as well as the significant improvement in copper prices are supportive of the foreign exchange market and in turn lower inflation going forward.

Meanwhile, in the money market, the kwacha is trading around K17.9 per dollar (at time of writing) from a peak of nearly K23 recorded early this year which largely reflects changes in the actual supply of foreign exchange and expectations of further improvements in supply associated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Special Drawing Rights (SDR) allocation, improved prospects of a formal Extended Credit Facility (ECF) program as well as buoyant copper prices.

The Bank of Zambia seeks to alleviate pressure on the Monetary Policy Rate currently at 8.5 percent in a bid to tighten fiscal policy, allowing room to bolster the country’s economic recovery.

Having come under immense pressure in 2020 due to the weakening macroeconomic environment, which was significantly exacerbated by the COVID 19 pandemic, economic experts have anticipated that Zambia’s inflation stability is likely,  following the new government’s positive talks with its creditors.

The United Party for National Development (UPND) led by Hakainde Hichilema emerged victorious in Zambia’s August 2021 general election. Voters across the country were jubilant and entrepreneurs in particular are now pinning their hopes on Hichilema’s promises to revive the economy. 

With high inflation, rising national debt and high unemployment, among other factors, Zambians are hopeful that a new regime will restore macroeconomic stability. 

Previously, the copper-rich country has been spending at least 30 percent of tax revenues on interest payments to deal with a not-fully-disclosed debt, officially placed at US$12 billion.

“We will pay special attention to lowering the fiscal deficit, reducing public debt and restoring social and market confidence,” affirmed Hichilema in his inaugural speech.

For this reason, Finance and National Planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane reiterated that the government’s overriding economic policy objective for 2022 and the medium term, will be to transform the economy, expand it and create employment opportunities.

“We must simultaneously deal with the problem of the excessive national debt without which it will be impossible to normalize the economy, let alone to bring about fundamental economic transformation for job and wealth creation,” Dr Musokotwane noted in an address to Parliament.

With a volatile inflation rate, Dr Musokotwane stressed that lending rates at banks also increased to an average of 25.6 percent in August 2021 on account of elevated levels of borrowing by the government.

Arising from existing vulnerabilities in the financial sector and fragile economic growth recorded in the previous administration, the new regime’s quest to implement fiscal adjustment measures in line with the Economic Recovery Programme and the understandings reached in discussions with the IMF remains critical.

“We have an opportunity of a lifetime to transform the economy into one that grows stronger every year. From now onwards, the war cry will be economic growth, economic growth and economic growth. Everything we plan and talk about will be about strong expansion in production,” Dr Musokotwane said.

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.