Zambia’s main opposition party filed a motion on Thursday seeking the impeachment of President Edgar Lungu, accusing him of constitutional breaches, the presidency said on Friday.
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The motion by the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) got signatures from a third of the members of parliament in the 166-member house. It would need the backing of two-thirds of the lawmakers to succeed.
“This is just a continuation of the UPND’s failed court challenge of President Edgar Lungu’s election victory,” presidential spokesman Amos Chanda told Reuters. “It is not going anywhere.
“The UPND knows that the charges are defective and the motion cannot succeed but still brought it because they are not interested in the political dialogue,” he said.
The notice says Lungu abrogated the constitution by not handing over power to the speaker of the national assembly when the opposition challenged his victory in court in 2016.
The document filed and circulated by UPND indicates that the motion would be debated next week on March 28.
According to the document, the motion was expected to be moved by UPND parliamentary Chief Whip Garry Nkombo and seconded by the ruling Patriotic Front’s Chishimba Kambwili.
Kambwili was arrested on Thursday by Zambia’s Anti-Corruption Commission on charges of corruption, which included having property suspected to be proceeds of crime [nL8N1R44NW].
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Reporting by Chris Mfula, editing by Larry King
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Zambia’s main opposition party seeks to impeach President Lungu

LUSAKA, March 20 (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia expects to produce more than one million tonnes of copper this year after revising its 2017 copper production upwards on the back of stabe power supply, a senior ministry of mines official said on Tuesday.
Rising copper prices were also expected to boost revenue collection in Africa’s No.2 producer of the metal, which ranks exports of the metal as its biggest export.
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Ministry of Mines Permanent Secretary Paul Chanda said the copper production figure was revised upwards to 800,000 tonnes from 786,731 tonnes announced by the central bank last month.
The southern African country produced 774,290 tonnes of copper in 2016.
“We actually hit 800,000 tonnes last year and we anticipate with certainty that we are going to reach a million tonnes or more this year,” Chanda told Reuters in an interview.
“With electric cars whose major ingredient is copper coming on the market, demand for the metal is expected to remain high and this is a big incentive for mining companies,” Chanda said.
Chanda said projects such as a new shaft by Mopani Copper Mines (MCM) owned by Glencore and an expansion project by China Non-Ferrous Africa Mining (NFCA) would start production this year and further boost copper output in 2018 and beyond.
Other mining companies operating in Zambia include Canada’s First Quantum Minerals, Barrick Gold Corp and London-listed Vedanta Resources. (Reporting by Chris Mfula Editing by James Macharia)

As electric cars’ thirst for copper increases, Zambia revises its copper output

African nations need to diversify energy supply, particularly countries reliant on hydropower, industry experts said at an energy conference in Johannesburg on Wednesday.
<div id="attachment_299739" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-299739" class="wp-image-299739 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Liberia-HydroPower_GettyImages.png" alt="" width="850" height="560" />A picture shows a general view of the newly renovated Mount Coffee Hydropower Project, a hydro-electric plant on Liberia&#8217;s Saint Paul River, in Harrisburg, some 40km from Monrovia, on December 15, 2016. Liberia&#8217;s hydro-electric plant was switched on on December 15 for the first time in 26 years. Image: Getty Images</div>
The region has been affected by severe droughts in recent years, affecting not only food security but also energy supply in countries that make heavy use of hydropower.
Hydropower stations in such countries are are at risk, said Langiwe Lungu, executive director of the Energy Regulation Board (ERB) in Zambia, pointing to climate change studies.
Zambia’s electricity deficit rose to 1,000 megawatts (MW) in 2016 as severe drought reduced water levels at the Kariba Dam, which generates much of its electricity.
Mines also came under pressure, with Glencore’s Zambian Mopani Copper Mines business suspending operations in certain areas after power supply restrictions.
Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, has since introduced solar, coal power and heavy fuel oil to its energy mix.
“At one point our energy supply was 99 percent from hydropower but now we are at about 85 percent,” Lungu said.
Low rainfall in Kenya, where electricity generation capacity is mostly from hydroelectric and geothermal sources, pushed the country to generate more electricity using costly diesel last year.
“You need a mix that allows you to mitigate those types of issues,” said George Njenga, GE Power’s regional executive for sub-Saharan Africa.
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Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Ed Stoddard and David Goodman
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African nations urged to avoid hydropower reliance

By Steven Grin and Rob Eloff 
From London’s ‘Silicon Roundabout’ to Dubai’s ‘Silicon Oasis’, governments and businesses around the world are keen to brand their local tech industries as the next hotbed of innovation. With young, digitally-savvy populations, African cities are also joining in on the trend: ‘Silicon Savannah’, ‘Silicon Cape’ and ‘Silicon Lagoon’ have emerged as popular monikers for Nairobi, Cape Town, and Lagos.  While these names might boost visibility, approaching business in a Silicon-style may constrain African entrepreneurs hoping to replicate Valley-level output. While Nigeria has emerged as the top destination for venture capital (VC) in Africa, Lagos isn&#8217;t Palo Alto &#8212; and it shouldn&#8217;t be. In the Valley, too much innovation has become about vanity and convenience for the top 10%. in African markets, however, tech can have a significant impact by filling product and service needs for the emerging middle class in sectors from banking and health to transportation and energy. Aspiring to the structure and ideas of Silicon Valley is not a recipe for the long-term success of Africa&#8217;s tech ecosystem. Instead, recognizing differences in funding environments, infrastructure challenges, and regulation can help entrepreneurs and investors foster new kinds of solutions better-suited to Africa’s needs.
<ol>
<li>  The funding environment</li>
</ol>
Because the Valley ecosystem is not constrained by resource scarcity, startups often use<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/valley-unicorns-terrified-by-profits-2016-4"> growth as a substitute for profitability</a>. In contrast to the deep pockets of Palo Alto, founders in cities like Dakar or Douala are more likely to encounter predatory bank loans and an arduous road to secure seed capital given a short supply of<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-10-13/silicon-valley-missing-out-on-african-startups-techcrunch-says"> local and diaspora capital</a>. In 2017, African startups raised an estimated<a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/venture-capital-funding-peaked-in-2017-2018-1?r=US&amp;IR=T"> $195 million compared with $84.2 billion in the U.S</a>. Without the same access to venture capital, successful local entrepreneurs must reach profitability as soon as possible with viable commercial models. As a result, a founder operating in Lagos is often more entrepreneurial than her counterpart in the Bay. P2P payments app Venmo was acquired by Braintree for $26.2 million in 2012; the company has yet to report a profit despite<a href="https://seekingalpha.com/article/4136932-crypto-looms-paypals-next-earnings-report"> strong user growth</a> and<a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/venmo-makes-moves-to-monetize-2017-5"> $30 billion in annual transactions</a>. By contrast, Zambia’s Zoona, also founded in 2009, has processed only<a href="https://ilovezoona.com/about-us/"> $2 billion in total transactions</a>, but has been<a href="http://www.itwebafrica.com/mobile/339-africa/235153-zambias-zoona-isnt-flustered-by-competition"> profitable since 2013</a>.
<ol start="2">
<li>  Infrastructure challenges</li>
</ol>
By 2050, 1 in 4 people worldwide will be African. As the region’s population soars and more people come online for the first time, entrepreneurs must design solutions better suited to the “next billion”. Transportation in Africa may be better addressed by<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/28/business/mellowcabs-taxi-south-african-transportation/index.html"> Mellowcabs</a> of Cape Town or<a href="http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/25/africa/the-smart-way-to-get-back-on-a-bike----safebodas-in-kampala/index.html"> SafeBoda</a> of Uganda than by<a href="https://afridigest.com/will-africas-challenges-solved-silicon-valley/"> autonomous cars from the Valley</a>. Similarly, startups like M-Kopa and Rensource may be better equipped to solve energy challenges than Tesla because they are entrenched in the environments for which they are building solutions. Customers, like entrepreneurs, develop unique ways to overcome infrastructure challenges that don’t necessarily translate to the Valley: in a region where your customer may not be found on Instagram, it’s the local founder who can understand the gap in the market and find opportunities to meet the customer where they already are. <a href="https://www.tulaa.io/">Tulaa, </a>for example<a href="https://www.tulaa.io/">, </a>is a B2B agriculture marketplace built to address the fragmented value chain for smallholder farmers. Tulaa layers a mobile-technology solution onto the last mile to aggregate farmers, suppliers and financiers.
<ol start="3">
<li> The regulatory environment</li>
</ol>
While investors may gripe about the regulatory obstacles to doing business in Africa, nascent legal frameworks are an opportunity to experiment in Africa’s tech ecosystem. Those who supported the U.S. Federal Communications Commission’s decision to repeal net neutrality in December argue that deregulation forces innovation in telecoms and internet companies; likewise, many American cities are struggling to regulate<a href="http://thehill.com/opinion/finance/368382-cities-and-state-are-struggling-to-regulate-airbnb"> drone technology, Airbnb, and Uber</a> without alienating the tech companies that create jobs and tax revenue. In the absence of prohibitive regulation, however, startups in Africa have greater flexibility to experiment with new models. Benefiting from limited regulation of cross-border payments, Flutterwave, for example, connecting siloed payments systems to<a href="https://medium.com/@theflutterwave/bring-on-the-impossible-2018-89fe26517e9e/"> process $2 billion in 2017</a> &#8211; a 900% increase over the $200 million it processed in 2016. Similarly, despite Kenyan banks’<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danielrunde/2015/08/12/m-pesa-and-the-rise-of-the-global-mobile-money-market/#19249c4e5aec"> attempts to contain competitor M-Pesa</a>, the company flourished thanks to a loose regulatory environment for mobile money.
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But  for all their opportunities, African markets still  present major  obstacles, including lack of mentorship networks and difficulty recruiting talent. As a result, founders must be even stronger to overcome fundamental ecosystem challenges.
<ol start="4">
<li>  Mentorship networks</li>
</ol>
Silicon Valley boasts a massive mentorship network: from Y Combinator cohorts to the PayPal Mafia, serial entrepreneurs and founders-turned-VCs are an invaluable resource to up-and-comers. According to VC Brad Feld, a great tech ecosystem requires a non-hierarchical network of entrepreneurs committed to a full<a href="http://ventureburn.com/2015/02/cape-town-will-never-silicon-valley-thats-good-thing/"> generation of community-building</a> &#8212; a luxury African founders often lack. In the absence of homegrown unicorns beyond Jumia, founders on the continent are not exposed to the positive externalities commonplace in the Valley and often navigate their entrepreneurial journeys without experienced guides. As a result, even many eagerly anticipated successes from Kopo Kopo to Wakanow  have succumbed to mistakes that local advisors may have helped to prevent. This may soon change, however, thanks to the rise of hubs such as Co-Creation Hub in Lagos and MEST’s expansion from Accra to Lagos and Cape Town.
<ol start="5">
<li>  Talent.</li>
</ol>
As the youngest, fastest-growing continent, Africa boasts an enormous workforce full of potential. The challenge in Africa’s tech ecosystems is not a lack of talent but a shortage of talented people willing to risk the rocky road of entrepreneurship. This is a far cry from the Silicon Valley ethos, where ‘go big or go home’ is encouraged. The lure of startup glory and equity often pales in comparison to  dreams of<a href="https://medium.com/global-entrepreneurship-summit/silicon-valley-invest-in-africa-but-do-it-differently-80edacc6a8c7"> financial stability or a small raise</a> in markets like Uganda, where per capita income is $1,820. The experienced professional working at a mid-tier bank may not be willing to trade a pay cut for the chance to ride the startup wave. With a high supply of quality engineers, PocketGems and Dropbox don’t struggle to find top talent. Startups in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, on the other hand, must contend with education systems that<a href="https://afridigest.com/will-africas-challenges-solved-silicon-valley/"> do not produce enough high-caliber technical talent</a> and the flight of many gifted, promising minds to the West.
&#8212;
Ultimately, Silicon Valley investors looking to sub-Saharan Africa must leave their expertise at Immigration: the rules mastered in the Bay need to be rewritten for and by African markets. Social and structural differences should not deter those with an eye towards the continent: opportunities in these ecosystems are plentiful, but seeing them requires a little unlearning and contextual understanding.
Steven Grin and Rob Eloff are co-founders of Lateral Capital, a mission-driven venture fund  focused on technology ventures in Sub-Saharan Africa

Op-Ed: Five reasons why Lagos ain’t Palo Alto

MOSCOW/HARARE/LUSAKA, Feb 8 (Reuters) &#8211; Russian fertiliser producers Uralchem and Uralkali plan to boost sales in southeast Africa, their co-owner Dmitry Mazepin said on Thursday, after meeting the leaders of Zimbabwe and Zambia.
Rising commodity prices and dramatic political change in the region have vastly improved the investment mood in the mining sector this year, a meeting of industry leaders in Cape Town showed this week.
Uralchem and Uralkali plan to create a hub in the two countries that will directly supply mineral fertilisers, the firms said in a statement after co-owner Mazepin met Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu.
They expect demand for the product to grow rapidly in the next few years.
<div class="DPSlot_container_2dHIN StandardArticleBody_dp-slot-inline_eUPBt" data-ad-type="other">Fertiliser demand is on the up in Zambia as it tries to diversify its economy away from copper mining to agriculture, but the nation still imports most of its fertiliser from South Africa.</div>
Zimbabwe struggled to feed its population between 2001 and 2016, a situation often blamed on the government and its seizure of businesses owned by white farmers.
This move depressed commercial agricultural output, while a lack of funding for farmers to purchase adequate fertiliser, coupled with drought, also hit production of the staple maize crop.
The country is short on foreign currency needed to import fertilisers such as ammonia, while its own domestic production remains low.
Cooperation with the two Russian companies will allow Zambia and Zimbabwe to reduce prices for their farmers, who are currently forced to buy fertilisers from intermediaries at a cost of $450 to $500 per tonne, Mazepin said.
Russia is able to offer mineral fertilisers in the global market, including at African ports, at $250 to $300 per tonne, Mazepin added. He is the owner of privately held Uralchem, which holds a stake in Uralkali.
According to him, in the short term, Uralchem and Uralkali may boost supplies of their fertiliser products in southeast Africa by 400,000 to 500,000 tonnes a year from the current 100,000 tonnes.
Mazepin also said Zimbabwe’s president had invited the Russian companies to supply fertiliser and participate in mining projects.
“Certainly, we are interested. When we get guarantees of stable business development at such high level, it is very important to us,” he said. (Reporting by Polina Devitt, MacDonald Dzirutwe and Chris Mfula; Editing by Dale Hudson and Polina Ivanova)

Russian fertiliser tycoon eyes Zimbabwe, Zambia for growth

By Rachel Kyte, CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All
<a href="mailto:https://books.google.com/books/about/Africa_Rising.html?id=6V1wB4mze5QC&amp;printsec=frontcover&amp;source=kp_read_button%23v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false">Africa Rising</a> is Africa’s clarion call for economic development across the continent and the rest of the world. With the economic case for expanding access to clean, reliable affordable electricity never stronger, 2018 is a year where we should see breakthroughs.
Sustainable Energy for All is working with partners across Africa to strengthen data and <a href="mailto:http://www.seforall.org/content/why-wait-report-quantifies-benefits-accelerating-electricity-access">evidence</a> to support government <a href="mailto:http://www.seforall.org/sites/default/files/Rel_RISE_report.pdf">policymakers</a> to shift towards more integrated energy plans that promote electricity access and exploit the remarkable plunge in renewable energy prices. We have also tracked the amount of <a href="mailto:http://www.seforall.org/content/reports-show-finance-needed-global-goals-2030">finance flowing</a> to close energy access gaps – hint, not enough is landing in African countries with the largest gaps in a form or a price that is useful. African governments are not investing enough in their own energy future, either.
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The bad news then is that there is much to do. The good news is that it’s all within our reach. Across the continent, we see examples of policy reforms that are working, investment climates that are attracting long-term financing and innovation that is poised to grow exponentially. The priority for 2018 must be speed and scale.
Consider the positives – the trends that we must seize on:
<ul>
<li>Solar and wind energy costs are plummeting, as are the costs of storage which opens more opportunities to deploy these technologies together.</li>
<li>More commitments by African leaders, including in Ethiopia, Ghana, Rwanda, Senegal and Zambia, to prioritise making reliable, affordable and clean energy available to all, especially remote and marginalised populations.</li>
<li>Financial innovation backing clean energy growth and development, such as Nigeria’s first-ever <a href="mailto:https://www.reuters.com/article/nigeria-bonds/nigeria-to-issue-29-mln-debut-green-bond-next-week-environment-ministry-idUSL8N1OE4R3">green bonds</a> and the <a href="mailto:https://www.energybillcruncher.com/la/?tg_ref=tvma&amp;camp_id=key&amp;keyword=renewable%20energy&amp;sub2=http%3A%2F%2Fnewbusinessethiopia.com%2Fafrican-development-bank-finances-324-million-renewable-energy-projects%2F&amp;csg_ref=pagen">African Development Bank’s</a> new lending for off-grid electricity and partnerships to mobilize blended finance.</li>
</ul>
With all that in mind, here’s are a few no-regret measures for 2018 that can help move us along even faster toward a sustainable energy future for all.
<ol>
<li>Embrace integration: Government leaders in Africa have a golden opportunity to re-think their national electrification strategies. Embracing integrated strategies, using both centralized and decentralized energy sources, will allow for a speedier and cheaper pathway to close energy access gaps, especially in rural area where grids are still a distant prospect.</li>
<li>Embrace the moment: Across the world, we are seeing low auction prices for renewable energy projects. The IFC-backed <a href="mailto:http://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/news_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/news+and+events/news/scaling-solar">Scaling Solar</a> program helped Zambia secure solar at 6 cents per kilowatt hour, the lowest solar prices to date in Africa. Others can learn from the success of Chile, Argentina and India, as well as South Africa, as they embrace grid connected renewables, and have effectively used power purchase agreements (PPAs) with transparent processes to attract long-term investors.</li>
<li>No more harmful subsidies: Don’t subsidize dirty energy for poor people; subsidize clean energy services for the poorest. Move more quickly to remove harmful fossil fuel subsidies and put in place systems that support those on low incomes to access clean cooking fuels and electricity. Those who have done it or who have experimented, from Morocco to Malawi, from Indonesia to Mexico to Angola, can be sources of inspiration and confidence.</li>
<li>Lay the table: The recent <a href="mailto:http://www.seforall.org/content/rise-sustainable-energy-policies">RISE report</a> showed that African countries lagged behind their Asian peers in having supportive policy environments for attracting more renewable energy, energy efficiency and greater energy access. Among those moving to improve the fastest are <a href="mailto:http://www.seforall.org/content/new-heat-maps-show-promise-and-challenge-providing-electricity-access-neediest-countries">Kenya</a> and Morocco, which have made strong progress in recent years enabling grid-scale and decentralized renewable efforts to flourish. Replicating these successes, as well as ensuring that national investment climates are sound, is essential to increase financial flows into what should be a growth sector – a 600 million person market of low income Africans who don’t have energy services today.</li>
<li>Don’t forget clean cooking: While finance flows for electricity access in Africa are weak, investment in clean cooking solutions is nearly non-existent, according to our recent <a href="mailto:http://www.seforall.org/content/reports-show-finance-needed-global-goals-2030">research</a>. It’s time to build big markets for clean cooking fuels in place of charcoal and other traditional biomass fuels whose use kills millions of people <a href="mailto:https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/these-cheap-clean-stoves-were-supposed-to-save-millions-of-lives-what-happened/2015/10/29/c0b98f38-77fa-11e5-a958-d889faf561dc_story.html?utm_term=.0a591ef0d960">worldwide</a> every year. Governments such as Rwanda’s, that have made clean cooking a high priority will benefit from a growing coalition of organizations and businesses who are scaling use of clean fuels, including with fuel pellets and liquid petroleum gas.</li>
</ol>
Africa is at a crossroads on energy. For many decades, the path of choice for closing energy access gaps in Africa was centralized fossil fuel projects and costly distributed diesel and kerosene. Yet, after all that investment, Africa’s energy is not reliable and affordable enough – and far too many people are still in the dark with no power at all.
Today, there is a better path, and many are showing the way with more renewables into electric grids; a stronger embrace of off-grid solar for household access; and subsidy reforms. By embracing a viable, clean energy future, not a myopic dirty past, African governments can leapfrog into a new energy future and make Africa Rising a reality.

A better path for Africa’s energy future

Chris Saunders, University of Cape Town
While each country in Southern Africa has its own politics, recent developments involving presidents provide interesting contrasts across the region. Which presidents gain and lose power in 2018 – and how they do so – will have significance for the region as a whole, not least in helping determine its continued stability.
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As 2018 begins, Joseph Kabila is clinging to the presidency of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), claiming that there is insufficient funding to hold an election, amid growing protests against him in Kinshasa and elsewhere. It remains to be seen if he will fulfil the undertaking he has made that elections will be held in December this year.
Other countries in the region start 2018 on a much more promising footing. In Botswana, President Ian Khama, approaching the end of his two presidential terms, is expected to step down in an orderly succession in April and will be suceeded by the vice-president.
In both Zimbabwe and Angola autocratic presidents who had been in power for almost four decades lost power in 2017 in very different ways.
<h2>Military intervention in Zimbabwe</h2>
In the case of Zimbabwe the country’s army intervened in November 2017 to force Robert Mugabe to give up power. This came after he had, under the influence of his wife Grace, sacked Emmerson Mnangagwa as vice-president. The Southern African Development Community did not need to intervene, and even the mediation mission it planned wasn’t required.
Instead, the Zimbabwe military acted, with the ruling party, Zanu-PF, to replace Mugabe with Mnangagwa. It did so peacefully, denying during the entire process that a coup was underway. The 93-year-old Mugabe, in office since 1980, initially refused to step down, but was finally removed both as president of the country and of the ruling party.
The country will go to the polls in mid-2018, and Mnangagwa, who was confirmed in December 2017 as Zanu-PF’s presidential candidate, has said that the election will be credible, free and fair, but he has yet to confirm that he will allow international and other observers.
With the military more obviously involved in government than anywhere else in the region, Zimbabwe’s opposition parties divided, and with Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the Movement for Democratic Change Alliance seriously ill, there is little likelihood that Zanu-PF or Mnangagwa will lose power.
<h2>Angola</h2>
In Angola José Eduardo dos Santos, suffering from ill-health, agreed in early 2017 to step down as president of the country. He nominated a man he thought would be a trusted successor, hoping to continue to wield influence as president of the ruling MPLA.
After elections for the National Assembly in August, João Lourenço duly succeeded Dos Santos as president. To widespread surprise, he began sacking the heads of some of the country’s key institutions. These included Dos Santos’s daughter, Isabel dos Santos, who was CEO of the state oil company Sonangol.
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<div id="attachment_290966" style="width: 860px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290966" class="wp-image-290966 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Angola_Joao-Lourenço_Dos-Santos_GettyImages.png" alt="" width="850" height="566" />Former Angolan President, José Eduardo dos Santos and new President João Lourenço. Image: Getty Images</div>
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And in early 2018 her brother José Filomeno dos Santos, was removed as head of Angola’s sovereign wealth fund. Their father’s influence was rapidly slipping away.
In Angola, as in Zimbabwe, a change of leader to one with a more reformist approach probably means that the ruling party has consolidated itself in power.
<h2>South Africa</h2>
In South Africa in December 2017 the leadership of the governing African National Congress (ANC) passed from Jacob Zuma to Cyril Ramaphosa, who thus became heir apparent to the presidency of the country. While there is no two-term limit for ANC presidents, Zuma had brought the ANC into discredit and Ramaphosa, despite having worked closely with Zuma as deputy president, was seen as the one who would curtail the corruption and “state capture”.
For now, Zuma remains president of the country until general elections due to be held by June 2019. The country waits to see whether, how and when Ramaphosa can arrange to take over as president of the country as well as of the ruling party.
<h2>A presidential challenge defeated</h2>
In Namibia, Hage Geingob had to meet a challenge to his continuing as leader of Swapo, the governing party, in November last year. He was, however, confirmed in his position and will therefore be Swapo’s presidential candidate for the election scheduled to take place in November 2019.
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Geingob supporters now fill all the key posts in his government, enabling him to make policy as he wishes. This is very different from South Africa, where the new ANC leadership remains divided and where Ramaphosa, when he becomes president of the country, will find it difficult to adopt new policies.
<h2>Malawi and Zambia</h2>
Malawi must hold elections in 2019 and the contest for the presidency then has already begun. It is not known whether Joyce Banda, the former president and leader of one of the country’s leading political parties, will return from self-imposed exile abroad to stand again. In 2017 she was formally charged with having been involved in the massive “Cashgate’ corruption scandal” that was uncovered while she was president.
<div id="attachment_41298" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-41298" class="wp-image-41298 size-medium" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/edgar_lungu_flickr-300x189.jpg" alt="Zambia elections body halts campaigning in capital over violence" width="300" height="189" />Zambian President, Edgar Lungu.</div>
In 2017 Lungu became more authoritarian. Hakainde Hichilema, the leader of the main opposition United Party for National Development, was arrested on what were clearly trumped-up charges. These were only dropped in August after interventions by the Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and inside Zambia by the local Catholic Archbishop.In Zambia, by contrast, where the next election is not due until 2021, the question is how Edgar Lungu, who took over the presidency after narrowly winning the presidential election in August 2016, will try to consolidate his power.
Lungu wants to serve a third term as president, and the country’s Constitutional Court has been asked to rule on the matter.
<h2>Regional perspective</h2>
Too often developments in one country are seen in isolation from similar ones elsewhere. Given that South Africa is the most important country in the region, how the Ramaphosa-Zuma poser is resolved will be significant for the region. Elsewhere, how presidents gain and lose, and try to consolidate their power, will help shape the continued stability of the region.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/89980/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />Will political tensions be managed internally, as in Zimbabwe in late 2017? Or will they require some kind of intervention by the Southern Africa Development Community, in the DRC and perhaps elsewhere, to prevent them from escalating? Throughout the region, contests for presidential power are likely to keep political passions on the boil.
This article was originally published on The Conversation.

Stability in southern Africa hinges on how leaders gain and lose power

By: Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines, the largest Aviation Group in Africa and SKYTRAX certified Four Star Global Airline, is pleased to announce that it has finalized the shareholders agreement with the Government of Zambia for the re-launch of Zambia Airways. The Government of Zambia will be the majority shareholder with 55% and Ethiopian will have 45% stakes in the airline.
<div id="attachment_129387" style="width: 2834px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-129387" class="wp-image-129387 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Ethiopian_Airlines_Wikimedia.jpg" alt="" width="2824" height="1884" />Photo: Wikimedia.</div>
Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines remarked:
“In line with our Vision 2025 multiple hubs strategy in Africa, we are very happy that the discussions with the Zambian government have been crowned with success. The launching of Zambia Airways will enable the travelling public in Zambia and the Southern African region to enjoy greater connectivity options, thereby facilitating the flow of investment, trade and tourism, and contributing to the socio-economic growth of the country and the region.
As an indigenous and truly Pan-African airline, we firmly believe that it is only through partnerships among African carriers that the aviation industry of the continent will be able to get its fair share of the African market, currently heavily skewed in favor of non-African airlines, and play its rightful role in availing efficient air connectivity within Africa as well as with the rest of the world. ”
The airline is meant to initially serve national and regional destinations before embarking on international flights.
The establishment of multiple hubs in Africa being an overarching strategy of Ethiopian under its Vision 2025, the national flag carrier currently operates hubs in Lomé (Togo) with ASKY Airlines and Malawian in Lilongwe (Malawi).

Ethiopian Airlines Partners with Zambian Government to develop Lusaka as an aviation hub for Southern Africa

JOHANNESBURG/LUSAKA (Reuters) &#8211; African politicians labelled U.S. President Donald Trump a racist on Friday after he was reported to have described some immigrants from Africa and Haiti as coming from “shithole” countries.
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Trump comment on “shithole countries” extremely offensive – SA official <a href="https://t.co/xh15wkCfn1">https://t.co/xh15wkCfn1</a> How do you feel about his comments
— CNBC Africa (@cnbcafrica) <a href="https://twitter.com/cnbcafrica/status/951822386437021697?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Sources told Reuters on Thursday that Trump had questioned why the United States would want immigrants from “shithole countries” like Haiti and some African countries during a briefing on draft immigration legislation.
Trump denied on Friday using such derogatory language, but he had already been widely condemned in many African countries and by international rights organisations.
<div class="DPSlot_container_2dHIN DPSlot_inline_1oeo6">“Ours is not a shithole country and neither is Haiti or any other country in distress,” Jessie Duarte, the deputy secretary general of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress told reporters at a news conference in East London.</div>
“We would not deign to make comments as derogatory as that about any country that has any kind of socio-economic or other difficulties,” Duarte said, adding that much like their African counterparts millions of U.S. citizens were affected by problems such as unemployment.
<div>Botswana’s foreign ministry summoned the U.S. ambassador in protest and called the comments “highly irresponsible, reprehensible and racist.”</div>

It said in a statement that it had asked the U.S. government, through its ambassador, to “clarify” if the derogatory remark also applied to Botswana given that there were Botswana nationals living in the United States and others who wished to go there.
U.N. human rights spokesman Rupert Colville told reporters in Geneva that Trump’s comments were “shocking and shameful”.
Since taking office a year ago, Trump has pursued controversial policies aimed at curbing illegal immigration into the United States as part of a hard-line “America First” agenda.
Trump said on Twitter on Friday that he merely used “tough” language when discussing a new immigration bill with a group of U.S. senators.
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The language used by me at the DACA meeting was tough, but this was not the language used. What was really tough was the outlandish proposal made &#8211; a big setback for DACA!
&mdash; Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/951793123985973248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 12, 2018</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

He said the bill was a step backwards because it would force the United States “to take large numbers of people from high crime countries which are doing badly”.
The Trump administration has spoken little about how it wants to engage with African countries, focusing its foreign policy instead on issues like North Korea and Islamic State.
In November it ended Temporary Protected Status for immigrants from Haiti and Nicaragua, giving 59,000 Haitian immigrants until July 2019 to return home or legalize their presence in the United States.
On the streets of Lusaka, capital of the southern African country of Zambia, Trump’s reported remark reinforced long-held views about the U.S. leader.
“Trump has always been a racist, only a racist can use such foul language,” said Nancy Mulenga, a student at the University of Zambia. Robert Chiponda, a communications consultant in Lusaka, said he never took Trump seriously.
Others used humour to ridicule the offensive comments.
“As someone from South Shithole, Trevor is deeply offended by the president’s remarks,” U.S. television programme The Daily Show wrote on Twitter, referring to its South Africa-born host Trevor Noah.
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Reporting by Ed Stoddard in East London, Chris Mfula in Lusaka and Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva; Writing by Alexander Winning in Johannesburg; Editing by Richard Balmforth
</div>

This is Africa’s response to US President Trump’s “shithole” remark…

LUSAKA (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia has shut three of South African retailer Shoprite’s Hungry Lion fast-food restaurants after their food tested positive for the bacterium that causes cholera, a government minister said on Thursday.
Zambia is struggling to contain an outbreak of the disease, which has killed 51 people and made more than 2,000 others sick in the capital Lusaka.
<div class="DPSlot_container_2dHIN DPSlot_inline_1oeo6">The outbreak was initially linked to contaminated water from shallow wells but investigations indicated that contaminated food was the main culprit.</div>
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Local government minister Vincent Mwale said inspectors had found contaminated food at three Hungry Lion branches in Lusaka.
“We have since directed the restaurants to close and have had meetings with the management to see how hygiene conditions can be improved,” Mwale told Reuters. “We suspect that some food handlers in these food outlets may be coming from parts of the city that are the epicentre of the disease.”
Shoprite management in Zambia could not immediately b e reached.
President Edgar Lungu last week directed the military to help fight the spread of the waterborne disease.
The outbreak was initially confined to densely populated parts of Lusaka with poor sanitation, but has now spread to lower-density areas.
Neighbouring Malawi has registered 157 cases and four deaths, its health minister said.
Cholera causes acute watery diarrhoea. It can be treated with oral rehydration solutions and antibiotics, but spreads rapidly and can kill within hours if not treated.
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Reporting by Chris Mfula; Additional reporting by Frank Phiri in Blantyre; Editing by Tiisetso Motsoeneng and Kevin Liffey
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Zambia shuts three of Shoprite’s Hungry Lion restaurants

Zambia’s Foreign Affairs Minister Harry Kalaba has resigned, he said on his Facebook page, as a struggle in the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) over President Edgar Lungu’s ambitions to run for another term in office intensifies.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-290685 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Zambian-Flag-Flickr.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="652" />
Kalaba is seen as a potential PF candidate in a 2021 presidential election but analysts say his chances of winning the PF nomination may stall if Lungu wins a court battle allowing him to run for a third term.
“We cannot proceed to manage national affairs with cold indifference when the levels of corruption are swelling and being perpetrated by those who are expected to be the solution,” Kalaba said in a Facebook post late on Tuesday.
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Presidential spokesman Amos Chanda told Reuters State House had not received Kalaba’s resignation letter.
Experts said Kalaba’s resignation was intended to apply pressure on Lungu who is accused by his opponents of chasing an unconstitutional third term.
“People have started realizing that they will not get nominated as long as Lungu insists on standing,” Lee Habasonda, an analyst from the University of Zambia, told Reuters.
Zambia’s constitution limits presidents to two terms but Lungu argues that his first period as leader doesn’t count because he did not serve a full term after he assumed power following the death of predecessor Michael Sata in 2014.
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Lungu was then elected for a five-year term in 2016.
Lungu in November warned constitutional court judges not to stop him running again and his allies have asked the Supreme Court to confirm that he will be eligible to stand.
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Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Joe Brock
</div>

Zambia’s foreign minister resigns as ruling party divide deepens

Zambia expects to host a mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) before the end of the year and hopes to have a $1.3 billion loan deal in place in early 2018, Treasury Secretary Fredson Yamba said on Tuesday.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-286397 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/IMF-Flickr.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="547" />
Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of a mining conference, Yamba also said Africa’s No. 2 copper producer was on a mission to cut debt, and would consider additional borrowing to plug financing gaps only if terms were favourable.
“Come 2018, we must have a final (IMF) programme. It has taken a long time because the parameters have been changing,” Yamba said, adding the IMF wanted the government to provide more details on debt stock, creditors and servicing costs.
“Our debt has accelerated too much. They wanted us to come up with action plans,” he said.
Zambia and the IMF agreed in October to chart a new path towards debt sustainability after the IMF delayed the conclusion of talks, saying it was at high risk of debt distress. The finance minister said last year that almost 20 percent of gross domestic product was being spent on debt servicing.
Asked if a deal could be reached in early 2018, Yamba replied in the affirmative.
Part of Zambia’s debt problem stems from $2.8 billion in Eurobonds, issued from 2012 to 2015. Yamba said the government would “operationalise” a planned sinking fund next year, aiming to accumulate cash for repayments, but was also looking at refinancing.
This may include swapping existing bonds for longer-dated issues, Yamba said, detailing plans earlier outlined by finance minister Felix Mutati, but he added this would be done only if favourable terms are achieved.
He declined to say what yield level could be considered favourable.
“We need to see how we can refinance them &#8230; Looking at the (2022) $750 million bond is critical. It’s a bullet payment,” he said, referring to an issue whose entire face value is paid upon maturity.
He said a Chinese loan was a possible option but there were no discussions on that yet.
The IMF loan delays have triggered a slide in the kwacha currency to around 10 per dollar, the lowest level since January.
Yamba predicted the kwacha would stabilise, helped by stronger copper prices and rising exports. He described the current exchange rate as “comfortable”.
Inflation, seen at 6 percent this year, would likely fall under that level next year, he added.
Copper accounts for 70 percent of Zambia’s foreign exchange earnings and the country expects to up copper output to 740,000 tonnes this year, increasing to more than 750,000 tonnes in 2018, Michael Chibonga, acting director of the mining cadastre department at the mines ministry told Reuters.
Zambia is also emerging as a producer of cobalt, expected to be in strong demand for use in batteries for electric vehicles, and Chibonga said its output was expected to rise alongside increasing copper production, although he did not give figures for cobalt.
The government has based its 2018 budget on a $6,000 per tonne price, Yamba said, but added this could be revised upwards. Copper prices were quoted around $6815 on Tuesday
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Reporting by Sujata Rao; Editing by Richard Balmforth
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Zambia says ‘must have’ $1.3BN IMF loan in place in 2018

Zambia has suspended new non-concessional borrowing to slow down the pace of debt accumulation as it seeks support from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Finance Minister Felix Mutati told parliament.
<div id="attachment_124168" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-124168" class="wp-image-124168 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Zambian-Flag-Flickr.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="652" />Photo: Flickr</div>
Zambia and the IMF agreed in October to chart a new path towards debt sustainability after the IMF delayed the conclusion of talks with Africa’s second-biggest copper producer, saying it was at high risk of debt distress.
Zambia’s publicly guaranteed debt rose to 60 percent at end of 2016 from 36 percent of GDP at the end of 2014.
Mutati told parliament late on Wednesday all commercial contracts that require debt financing should only be signed with approval from the Treasury.
The government was also implementing new revenue mobilisation measures such automation and appointment of tax collection agents, he said.
“With these measures (the) government has continued to engage the IMF,” Mutati said, without giving a timeframe on when the negotiations were likely to be concluded.
Mutati said the conclusion of talks with the IMF was expected to enhance foreign exchange flows from the private sector and reduce negative sentiment among investors.
Zambia’s central bank governor said on Wednesday the delay in reaching a conclusion for an aid programme with the IMF was putting pressure on the kwacha.
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Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by James Macharia
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Zambia moves to slow down debt accumulation as it seeks IMF aid

LUSAKA (Reuters) &#8211; Zambian President Edgar Lungu has sent former president Kenneth Kaunda to Harare to try to convince President Robert Mugabe to step down in a “dignified exit” after the military seized power last week.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="aligncenter wp-image-41298 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/edgar_lungu_flickr.jpg" alt="Zambia elections body halts campaigning in capital over violence" width="800" height="505" />
The ruling party removed Mugabe as ZANU-PF president and first secretary on Sunday and lawmakers from the ruling party were due to meet at the party headquarters on Monday to discuss impeaching the 93-year-old leader.
“Dr Kaunda used the presidential jet and has already arrived in Harare,” a senior government source told Reuters. Kaunda is also 93 years old.
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Parliament does not sit on Mondays so any impeachment would have to wait until Tuesday, although a vote may not necessarily take place the same day.
<div class="DPSlot_container_2dHIN DPSlot_inline_1oeo6 in-article-tag">Two senior political sources said Mugabe agreed to resign on Sunday but ZANU-PF did not want him to quit in front of the military, an act that would have made its intervention look like a coup.</div>
“It would have looked extremely bad if he had resigned in front of those generals. It would have created a huge amount of mess,” one senior source within ZANU-PF said.
Another political source said the speech was meant to “sanitise” the military’s action.
There has been speculation that he read the wrong speech in his live television address on Sunday or skipped over passages about standing down.
Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai was dumb-struck.
“I am baffled. It’s not just me, it’s the whole nation. He’s playing a game,” he told Reuters. “He is trying to manipulate everyone. He has let the whole nation down.”
ZANU-PF had given him less than 24 hours to quit as head of state or face impeachment, an attempt to secure a peaceful end to his tenure after the de facto military coup.
ZANU-PF’s central committee had earlier named Emmerson Mnangagwa as its new leader. It was Mugabe’s sacking of Mnangagwa as his vice-president &#8212; paving the way for his wife Grace to succeed him &#8212; that triggered the army to seize control.
On Saturday, hundreds of thousands took to the streets of Harare to celebrate Mugabe’s expected downfall and hail a new era for their country.
The huge crowds in Harare have given a quasi-democratic veneer to the army’s intervention, backing its assertion that it was merely effecting a constitutional transfer of power, rather than an old-style coup, which would risk a diplomatic backlash.
Armoured vehicles manned by soldiers were still stationed on some street corners in the capital on Monday.
The University of Zimbabwe postponed exams on Monday after students started chanting and singing songs against Mugabe.
Meanwhile, the man himself remained under house arrest in his lavish “Blue Roof” compound, watching the support from his party, security services and people evaporate.
<h3>REDUCED POWERS</h3>
ZANU-PF also said it wanted to change the constitution to reduce the power of the president, a possible sign of its desire to move towards a more pluralistic and inclusive political system.
However, Mnangagwa’s history as state security chief during the so-called Gukurahundi crackdown, when an estimated 20,000 people were killed by the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade in Matabeleland in the early 1980s, suggested that quick, sweeping change was unlikely.
“The deep state that engineered this change of leadership will remain, thwarting any real democratic reform,” said Miles Tendi, a Zimbabwean academic at Oxford University.
Reporting by Chris Mfula; Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Ed Cropley
</div>

Ex-Zambian leader arrives in Zimbabwe to convince Mugabe to go: source

We need to quantify and protect Africa’s exported technology because a lot more is going on than many of us realise. 
<div id="attachment_290524" style="width: 1210px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-290524" class="wp-image-290524 size-full" src="http://cnbc.africa/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/intellectual-property_the-blue-diamond-gallery.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="782" />Image: The Blue Diamond Gallery.</div>
By Nnamdi Oranye
The complexity of cross-border economics needs to be re-evaluated by those involved. The recent downgrade of aid to Africa from the Trump administration has proved that the relationship Africa has with the developed world is not as predictable as it used to be. The percentage of African emigrants has not plateaued and, with that, comes the tricky business of what belongs to Africa and what belongs to the world.
Recently I was at a tech conference in the United States and one of the speakers presented the extraordinary success Zambia has had in their fight against malaria. What was of interest to me was that this was as a direct result of software developed in Zambia, and by extension, Africa.
<h4>Ambitious goal to eliminate malaria</h4>
Here’s the back-story. The health ministry of Zambia has an ambitious goal of eliminating malaria altogether. Their Visualize No Malaria project has already seen unprecedented success. These advancements indicate that their goal is not unrealistic. They were able to do this through the brilliance of Zambian-based software engineers, which found a way to load intricate geospatial data into an existing database (EXASOL). Having a significant proportion of Zambia’s landmass mapped out, analysts and government were able to send treatment to specific areas, rather than the previously unsuccessful spread-betting.
This collaboration between local and international innovators has made for a noteworthy observation. Watch this. If you do a Google search for the Visualize No Malaria campaign, the success of it is credited to the international collaborators, with little emphasis on Zambia. Just to clarify, I’m a big fan of their work and I do regularly engage with these international collaborators. In fact, in certain instances, I use their product!
So what’s that about, you wonder? So do I. This leads me to ask the question: why is the contribution Africa has on technology never quantified? Steps have been taken to quantify the economic contribution of African migrants but little is being done to quantify the software, intellectual property (IP), and intel being exported by those who have not left Africa, but whose technology is being used abroad.
<h4>Inspired by Zimbabwe&#8217;s car-sharing culture</h4>
Here’s another interesting example. Lyft, now a multi-billion ride-sharing company that operates in 300 cities in the U.S., was inspired by Zimbabwe’s car-sharing culture (which people in Zimbabwe call “lifts”). After Lyft founders Logan Green and John Zimmer returned from a Zimbabwe trip around 2007, they started “Zimride”, which focused on car sharing between U.S. cities. Many people thought it was called “Zimride” because of Zimmer’s surname, but it was actually inspired by a Zimbabwe trip.
How much of this story will be shared in the future? While you can find this info if you go looking for it, you will generally find it as a side-story in Wikipedia entries and the like. We, as Africans, need to be keeping this in the public record. Quantifying African exported innovation, its worth and impact, changes the amount of perceived influence Africa has in the global arena. As Trump has demonstrated, the United States is able to withhold funding and donor aid from Africa as it wishes.
The impact this has on science and technology development is huge. Withholding funding is another way of withholding power. What if it were the other way around? What would happen if Africa were to withhold its own innovation? What if Africa were to not release software and innovation that it developed? What if we patented our ideas? If we were able to quantify African IP, and the return of investment, it would disrupt many of the Fortune 500 companies that benefit from it.
<h4>Africa&#8217;s legacy of innovation</h4>
Africa has a legacy of innovation that many other continents capitalised on. Our issue, perhaps, is we’re not talking about it or documenting it or even thinking about how our ideas can be used profitably. Exploring ways to quantify this appears to be on the backburner of our own agenda. I believe that needs to change.
As I alluded to earlier, the significant impact of African IP is also usually up for grabs because it hasn’t been patented. Experts in patent law need to get involved and offer their skills. It can’t be that the economic and influential impact African IP has is of no benefit to the continent simply because it wasn’t patented. Such a problem is easily solved. Government, the African Union, the African Diaspora, and even philanthropic international investors need to protect African IP and use it as a resource to strengthen the economic growth of our continent.
So let us consider the impact of taking back African IP. Without a doubt, if Africa were not funded by international investment, it would not have many of the technological and commercial advancements that it does. However, receiving funding is no basis for not owning our own IP. Caution needs to be taken in partnerships between African innovators and their international investors.
<h4>Siyavula aims to disrupt traditional education</h4>
Google recently granted $1.5 million to the non-profit arm of Siyavula, an education company based in South Africa. Siyavula has developed a software service called Intelligent Practice, and a model that allows collaborative distribution of content. They aim to disrupt traditional education and this caught Google’s attention. Thankfully, Siyavula had the foresight to protect their technology. Any potential collaborators would need to license their IP as well. Siyavula’s partnership with Google shows us that retaining economic autonomy, and accessing international investment, is achievable.
We are in a situation where there is still inadequate exposure of African innovation and technology. M-Pesa’s expansion into Europe can’t be the only example we know about. As we start to quantify the impact of African IP, we must protect the value and influence it has in Africa and the world. It’s our responsibility, regardless of the contribution that has come from outside our borders.
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Op-Ed: Protecting African Intellectual Property

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The WB&#8217;s Doing Business report is in its 15 year, Cemile Hacibeyoglu, Private Sector Specialist at the World Bank Group says the good news is that, 80 per cent of the reforms in this year&#8217;s report have been implemented by developing countries.

African economies adopt record number of reforms

Zambia’s public debt is growing unsustainably, making the economy of Africa’s No. 2 copper producer vulnerable to market swings and reversals in capital flows, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday.
Publicly guaranteed debt increased from 36 percent of gross domestic product at the end of 2014 to 60 percent at end of 2016, it said.
“Public debt has been rising at an unsustainable pace and has crowded out lending to the private sector and increased the vulnerability of the economy,” the Fund said in a statement after its executive board concluded consultations with Lusaka.
“Directors expressed concern at the pace at which public debt, especially external debt, has increased and now put Zambia at high risk of debt distress. They commended the progress made in developing a medium-term debt strategy.”
The IMF said while the government was committed to reducing its fiscal deficit from 9 percent of GDP in 2016, its cash deficit would remain “elevated” as government arrears were cleared.
“Increased participation of foreign investors in the government securities market has eased the government’s financing constraint but has made the economy more vulnerable to swings in market sentiments and capital flow reversals.”
The IMF forecast growth of 4 percent in 2017, slower than the government’s forecast of 4.3 percent.
“Domestic risks to the outlook include delayed fiscal adjustment which would continue to crowd out credit to private sector and entrench an unsustainable debt situation, and unfavorable weather conditions which would affect hydro power generation and agricultural output,” the Fund said.
“External risks include tighter global financial conditions and volatility in the world copper price.”
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Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Richard Balmforth
</div>

Zambia

Zambia’s main opposition party seeks to impeach President Lungu

As electric cars’ thirst for copper increases, Zambia revises its copper output

African nations urged to avoid hydropower reliance

Op-Ed: Five reasons why Lagos ain’t Palo Alto

Russian fertiliser tycoon eyes Zimbabwe, Zambia for growth

A better path for Africa’s energy future

Stability in southern Africa hinges on how leaders gain and lose power

Ethiopian Airlines Partners with Zambian Government to develop Lusaka as an aviation hub for Southern Africa

This is Africa’s response to US President Trump’s “shithole” remark…

Zambia shuts three of Shoprite’s Hungry Lion restaurants

Zambia’s foreign minister resigns as ruling party divide deepens

Zambia says ‘must have’ $1.3BN IMF loan in place in 2018

Zambia moves to slow down debt accumulation as it seeks IMF aid

Ex-Zambian leader arrives in Zimbabwe to convince Mugabe to go: source

Op-Ed: Protecting African Intellectual Property

African economies adopt record number of reforms

IMF says Zambia public debt rising at unsustainable pace

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Zambia

Zambia’s main opposition party seeks to impeach President Lungu

As electric cars’ thirst for copper increases, Zambia revises its copper output

African nations urged to avoid hydropower reliance

Op-Ed: Five reasons why Lagos ain’t Palo Alto

Russian fertiliser tycoon eyes Zimbabwe, Zambia for growth

A better path for Africa’s energy future

Stability in southern Africa hinges on how leaders gain and lose power

Ethiopian Airlines Partners with Zambian Government to develop Lusaka as an aviation hub for Southern Africa

This is Africa’s response to US President Trump’s “shithole” remark…

Zambia shuts three of Shoprite’s Hungry Lion restaurants

Zambia’s foreign minister resigns as ruling party divide deepens

Zambia says ‘must have’ $1.3BN IMF loan in place in 2018

Zambia moves to slow down debt accumulation as it seeks IMF aid

Ex-Zambian leader arrives in Zimbabwe to convince Mugabe to go: source

Op-Ed: Protecting African Intellectual Property

African economies adopt record number of reforms

IMF says Zambia public debt rising at unsustainable pace

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