Zambia’s Finance Permanent Secretary said on Tuesday that the southern Africa nation will resume talks with the International Monetary Fund over an aid programme in October and hopes to get IMF board approval by the end of the year.
“The engagement with the fund is pretty advanced. We have addressed most of the structural issues and agreed to them,” Mukuli Chikuba said during the launch of a mid-year economic report.
“The work that is remaining with the IMF includes spending plans for the rest of 2017. We will resume engagement with the fund in October and hope to get board approval by December.”
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Reporting by Chris Mfula; Writing by Nqobile Dludla
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Zambia to resume talks with IMF over possible aid programme in October

Zambia’s economy will grow by 5.0 percent in 2018, 5.1 percent in 2019 and 6.1 percent in 2020, up from 4.3 percent in 2017, the ministry of finance said in a statement on Sunday.
The country’s fiscal deficit is expected to be 7.0 percent in 2017, 6.3 percent in 2018 and 4.3 percent in 2019, then drop to 2.6 percent in 2020, it said.
Inflation is expected to remain 6 to 8 percent from 2017 to 2020, the statement said.
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Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Larry King
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Zambia GDP growth seen rising to 6.1% by 2020

There is no shortage of quality wind projects coming to market in Africa right now, and the will, capital and technology are in place to create a wave of wind project development across the continent.
However, amidst all the talk of renewable energy in Africa, not one utility scale wind project reached financial close in 2016. This may come as a surprise to many in the industry given how prominently renewables have factored into recent national government plans, as well as in the plans and projections of transnational organisations on the continent.
To provide some context, IRENA’s ‘Renewable Scenario for Africa’ predicts that the share of renewables in Africa will increase from 17% in 2009 to 50% in 2030, and nearly 75% by 2050. Total installed renewable capacity would grow from 28 GW in 2010 to around 800 GW by 2050, with solar photovoltaic accounting for 245 GW, and wind at 242 GW.
So what is the hold up?
The main obstacles to renewable energy projects being built in a timely manner in Africa today, have been governance and politics, and in particular an excess in bureaucracy and a lack of technical capacity in key government departments.
However, there are bright spots. Kenya’s flagship Lake Turkana wind farm – the largest in Africa is set to be fully operational later this year with investment from global tech giant Google and others. There is also strong momentum in countries like Egypt and Morocco who are second and third behind South Africa in terms of installed wind capacity.
What is driving change?
There is growing consensus among the investor community and society at large that the ‘tipping point’ from fossil fuels to renewable energy has been reached. For Africa in particular, the stakes are high. The ‘renewable energy revolution’, provides Africa with a one off opportunity to leapfrog fossil fuels and the 20th century model of energy development and move towards a clean, efficient system based on 21st century technology the same way Africans skipped ahead to mobile phones over fixed telephony &#8211; and embark on a different industrial development path.
The political will is there. It seems one government after another have been setting ambitious clean energy targets in an initiative to transform their energy mix in favour of a more sustainable future. East Africa is a good example beginning with Uganda’s 61% renewable goal by 2017, followed by Kenya’s 42% by 2033 and Tanzania’s 70% by 2026. Not to be outdone, Ethiopia was among the most daring signatories to the Paris Agreement on climate change, committing to cut carbon emissions by 64% by 2030.
The most powerful factor influencing policymakers is that renewables and wind in particular make solid financial sense. The costs of developing solar in Africa fell 50% from 2010 to 2014 and continue to fall, but the cost of wind on the continent is on a very interesting trajectory as the recent tender in Egypt resulted in bids as low as USD 0.041/kWh, a new record for Africa. We have seen the cost of offshore and onshore wind drop dramatically where scale has been reached in places like Europe, China and the USA, demonstrating a way for Africa to follow suit.
Solar paves the way for Wind?
The barriers to entry for utility scale wind projects, are higher than with solar, but the potential of wind is not to be underestimated, especially where it can complement solar power. Recent studies, namely in India and Brazil, revealed how wind and solar projects can complement each other by minimising the variability of the power output and easing pressure on the grid.
India’s Ministry of New and Renewable Energy has released a draft national Wind-Solar Hybrid Policy targeting 10GW by 2022. In a similar move, Brazil&#8217;s Senate Committee for Environment has approved a bill that allows hybrid renewable energy projects to take part in the country&#8217;s energy auctions.
Using similar logic, certain African countries that initially welcomed solar projects on their home soil are now turning to wind power, as the technology gains ground and its symbiotic relationship with solar becomes clearer.
Two telling yet very different examples come to mind, Egypt and Zambia.
Egypt’s target of 7.2 GW of wind power by 2022 will lead to considerable investments in the near future. The North African country’s estimated investment potential for wind power is $11 billion by 2020, compared to just $5 billion for solar projects.
Zambia, on the other hand, made headlines as the home of Africa’s cheapest solar just over a year ago. Now, the Southern African country known more for its formidable solar and hydropower, is turning to wind with the help of the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) grant funding for a 130MW wind farm that Access Power will develop with EREN Renewable Energy.
Only the beginning…
 Things are going in the right direction, so there is reason to believe in the potential of Africa’s wind industry as certain countries, whether likely or unlikely, are showing the way. The next couple of years should see a lot exciting wind projects come to fruition, and it seems inevitable that the current constellation of goodwill, capital and innovation will allow Africa to take the opportunity to chart its own industrial path, towards a clean energy future.
<ul>
<li>This article was written by <a href="http://www.access-power.com/">Access Power</a>&#8216;s Executive Chairman <a href="http://www.access-power.com/our-people">Reda El-Chaar</a> </li>
</ul>

Op-Ed: Africa is on the cusp of a wind energy revolution, it’s time to grasp it

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Given Africa&#8217;s largely youthful population, the regions’ social and economic transformation goals lie in investing in young people.

Investing in Africa’s youth to harness the demographic dividend

Zambia plans to drop treason charges against the country&#8217;s main opposition leader and free him from prison on Monday under a deal brokered by the Commonwealth secretary-general, government and legal sources told Reuters.The United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema and five others were arrested in April and charged with treason after Hichilema&#8217;s convoy failed to make way for President Edgar Lungu&#8217;s motorcade.
The United Party for National Development (UPND) leader Hakainde Hichilema and five others were arrested in April and charged with treason after Hichilema&#8217;s convoy failed to make way for President Edgar Lungu&#8217;s motorcade.
Hichilema&#8217;s trial had been due to begin on Monday but two sources said the prosecution would apply to the court to discontinue the case.
 The case has stoked political tensions in the continent&#8217;s No. 2 copper producer, seen as one of Africa&#8217;s more stable and functional democracies, following a bruising election last year.
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland visited Zambia last week and told reporters she had met Lungu and Hichilema separately and that the two leaders had agreed to a process of dialogue facilitated by her office.
&#8220;That process of dialogue, which the Commonwealth Secretary-General Baroness Patricia Scotland is leading with the help of Catholic bishops, starts with the release of the opposition leader from prison,&#8221; a government source told Reuters on Sunday, referring to local religious leaders.
  &#8220;The state will discontinue the treason case in the public interest as both the opposition leader and the head of state are committed to burying their past and starting dialogue envisaged to help address some of the issues the opposition raised after the 2016 elections so that the 2021 elections are better held.&#8221;Lungu is committed to all aspects of the dialogue agreed between the president and the opposition leader, the source said, which include promoting peace, stability and
Lungu is committed to all aspects of the dialogue agreed between the president and the opposition leader, the source said, which include promoting peace, stability and public good.
&#8220;An overt act serious enough to warrant prosecution exists but the public interest seems to be the overriding consideration, so a nolle prosequi will be entered,&#8221; a public prosecutor told Reuters, using the legal term for the discharge of a case.The southern African country has always been relatively stable but relations between the government and the opposition have been fraught since August when Lungu&#8217;s Patriotic Front (PF) beat the UPND in a presidential election marred by violence and which the opposition says was rigged.
The southern African country has always been relatively stable but relations between the government and the opposition have been fraught since August when Lungu&#8217;s Patriotic Front (PF) beat the UPND in a presidential election marred by violence and which the opposition says was rigged.It was the second time that Lungu beat Hichilema, an economist and businessman popularly known by his initials &#8220;HH&#8221;, in a presidential election by a razor-thin margin.
It was the second time that Lungu beat Hichilema, an economist and businessman popularly known by his initials &#8220;HH&#8221;, in a presidential election by a razor-thin margin In June, church leaders including those from the influential Catholic
In June, church leaders including those from the influential Catholic church, called for Hichilema&#8217;s release.
Last month Lungu invoked emergency powers to deal with &#8220;acts of sabotage&#8221; by his political opponents, after fire gutted the country&#8217;s biggest market.
Under emergency laws, police can prohibit public meetings, detain suspects longer than usual, search without a warrant, close roads, impose curfews and restrict certain people&#8217;s movements.
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Writing by James Macharia; Editing by Susan Fenton
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Zambia to drop treason charges against opposition leader

Author: <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/boniface-dulani-228606">Boniface Dulani</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-bratton-178849">Michael Bratton</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/michigan-state-university-1349">Michigan State University</a>
After a year of authoritarian backsliding under <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-talk-about-zambia-as-it-falls-from-grace-under-president-lungu-77520">President Edgar Lungu</a> in their once-proud democracy, Zambians face a choice of futures. Ordinary citizens are clearly disposed to stand by their democratic ideals and reject dictatorship.
A recent <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/publications/ad157-democracy-in-zambia-at-a-crossroads">survey</a> by Afrobarometer an independent research network that conducts public attitude surveys across the continent, leaves little doubt that most Zambians are dissatisfied as they see their country going in the “wrong direction” and their democracy beginning to erode.
To defend democracy, citizens require an open political environment, and Zambians see that political space closing. Between 2012 and 2017, the proportion of citizens who say they feel “completely” or “somewhat” free to say what they think has declined sharply, from 81% to 62%. On top of this, 72% of Zambians now say that they must “always” or “often” be “careful of what they say about politics,” a proportion that has risen by 10 percentage points over the past five years.
Since 1999, the proportion of citizens who say they enjoy “somewhat” or “much” more freedom of speech “compared to a few years ago” has dropped from 77% to 41%.
Zambia has gone from a country where most people felt free to engage in open political debate to one where most people have begun to look over their shoulders to see who is listening.
But are citizens prepared to stand up to defend democratic rights at this critical juncture? In Zambia, the answer is mixed.
<h2>Mixed feelings</h2>
On one hand, Zambians are fierce defenders of the right to personal privacy: Two-thirds (67%) reject government monitoring of private communications (on mobile phones, for example), even under the pretext of security.
Almost as many (58%) assert that they “should be able to join any organisation, whether or not the government approves of it”. On the other hand, Zambians fall short in resisting other real or potential excesses of presidential power. A slim majority (54%) says
<blockquote>(the government) should be able to prevent the media from publishing things that it considers harmful to society.</blockquote>
Fully 70% say they are willing to accept that,
<blockquote>when faced with threats to public security, the government should be able to impose curfews and set up special roadblocks.</blockquote>
It must be stressed that the April 2017 survey was conducted before Lungu <a href="https://theconversation.com/lungu-tries-to-have-his-cake-and-eat-it-a-state-of-emergency-in-all-but-name-80628">seized extraordinary powers</a>. At that time, few Zambians may have believed that security conditions actually existed that warranted infringements of rights. So these results should not be read as a direct endorsement of the president’s actions.
As in Burundi, where Afrobarometer traced a rise in support for <a href="http://afrobarometer.org/sites/default/files/press-release/burundi/bdi_r6_pr_Burundians_support_democracy_08012015.pdf">term limits </a> as President Pierre Nkurunziza moved to undermine them, it may well be that there has been movement in public opinion since Lungu cracked down.
Figure 5: Popular resistance to emergency measures | Zambia | April 2017*
<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/178799/area14mp/file-20170719-13539-pn4y4n.PNG"><img decoding="async" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/178799/width754/file-20170719-13539-pn4y4n.PNG" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Figure 5.</figcaption></figure>
The questions the respondents were asked include: 
1. Which of the following statements is closest to your view? 
Statement 1: Government should be able to monitor private communications, for example on mobile phones, to make sure that people are not plotting violence. 
Statement 2: People should have the right to communicate in private without a government agency reading or listening to what they are saying. 
2. Which of the following statements is closest to your view? 
Statement 1: The government should be able to ban any organisation that goes against its policies. 
Statement 2: We should be able to join any organisation, whether or not the government approves of it.
<h2>Political attitudes</h2>
As Zambia’s own history demonstrates, a mobilised public can be a powerful force for democratisation. But who will lead public opinion in defence of Zambia’s democracy in 2017?
The data show few important differences between urban and rural residents, or between Internet and social-media users and non-users, when it comes to these political attitudes. Instead, educational achievement is the best marker of difference among Zambians in terms of their willingness to support and defend democracy.
Table 1: Political attitudes by level of education | Zambia | 2017 
No formal education
<figure class="align-center zoomable"><a href="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/178801/area14mp/file-20170719-13545-1defwr1.PNG"><img decoding="async" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/files/178801/width754/file-20170719-13545-1defwr1.PNG" alt="" /></a><figcaption>Table 1.</figcaption></figure>
For some political attitudes, a little education goes a long way. For example, primary schooling seems to sharply step up the likelihood that Zambians will support democracy, reject military and one-man rule, see a need to be careful about what one says about politics, and feel constrained about criticising President Lungu.
In other instances, political attitudes change by increments as respondents gradually attain higher levels of education, with respect to the likelihood that Zambians will, for example, reject one party rule, see the last election as less than free and fair and prefer to limit the president to two terms in office.
Finally, a post-secondary education seems to be required before individuals are able to take on the most demanding understandings of, and commitments to, democracy. For example, majorities of this group tend to recognise recent declines in freedom for the media, NGOs, and opposition parties; oppose efforts by the government to control the mass media and oppose moves by the government to ban independent organisations.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/81277/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />While Zambians strongly endorse democratic principles, less educated citizens may be prone to underestimate the threats inherent in government takeover of the legislature, courts and the mass media, or to acquiesce to specious arguments that law and order requires the sacrifice of individual liberties.
In that case, the defence of democracy in Zambia depends critically on active political engagement by educated citizens. They have essential roles to play in helping other Zambians to understand that the greatest risk to democracy in the country today comes not from the imminent threat of a military coup but from the gradual erosion of hard-won political gains at the hands of an elected civilian leader bent on expanding his own power.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/boniface-dulani-228606">Boniface Dulani</a>, Senior lecturer in the Department of Political and Administrative Studies at the University of Malawi and Research Associate, Centre for Social Science Research, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-cape-town-691">University of Cape Town</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/michael-bratton-178849">Michael Bratton</a>, University Distinguished Professor of Political Science and African Studies, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/michigan-state-university-1349">Michigan State University</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/zambians-firmly-defend-democracy-but-will-they-stand-up-against-lungu-81277">original article</a>.

Zambians are worried about their democracy. But will they stand up?

Zambian President Edgar Lungu may revoke emergency powers before they expire in 90 days if there is an end to the &#8220;acts of sabotage&#8221; they were meant to quell, his spokesman said on Wednesday.
Africa&#8217;s second-largest copper producer, one of the continent&#8217;s more stable democracies, has been unusually tense since the arrest in April of opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema on treason charges, ostensibly for impeding Lungu&#8217;s motorcade.
On Tuesday, parliament extended Lungu&#8217;s emergency powers by three months in an attempt to quash a spate of arson attacks on market places and court-houses.
Lungu spokesman Amos Chanda said police were making progress in their investigations and had observed no new incidents since emergency rule was imposed a week ago.
&#8220;If these acts of sabotage do not continue this should be lifted within three months. It could be revoked even earlier than three months. The president at any point can revoke it,&#8221; Chanda said.
Critics say the emergency powers will be used to harass political opponents after last year&#8217;s bitter and violent election, which Hichilema&#8217;s United Party for National Development (UPND) says was rigged.
(Reporting by Ed Stoddard; Editing by Ed Cropley)

Zambia says emergency rule may end early if sabotage stops

For 24 hours rumours swirled through Zambia that President Edgar Lungu <a href="https://www.zambiawatchdog.com/lungu-likely-to-sign-state-of-emergency-tonight/">planned to initiate a state of emergency</a>. When he finally took to the airwaves to <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-05-zambia">make a special announcement</a> he did something different. Invoking <a href="https://www.lusakatimes.com/2017/07/05/article-31-declaration-relating-threatened-emergency/">Article 31</a> of the <a href="https://www.ilo.org/dyn/natlex/docs/ELECTRONIC/26620/90492/F735047973/ZMB26620.pdf">constitution</a> – Declaration Relating to Threatened Emergency – rather than Article 30 – Declaration of Public Emergency – the president requested extra powers to prevent a state of emergency rather than actually declaring one.
In practice, the difference between the two is slim. If, as expected, parliament approves his request he will have been given considerably more powers. He will be able to restrict movement of assembly, implement a curfew, curtail parliament, ban publications, order detention without trial, and search any property without a search warrant. As respected Zambian commentator Sishuwa Sishuwa has put it, this is effectively a “State of Threatened Emergency”.
The president’s decision to go with Article 31 is significant for a number of reasons. The first is that it allows the Zambian government to ward off criticism by being able to argue that it has not <a href="https://www.lusakatimes.com/2017/07/06/president-lungu-not-declared-state-emergency/">declared a state of emergency</a>. This is important because the Patriotic Front regime is in the process of negotiating a much needed <a href="https://www.lusakatimes.com/2017/05/02/imf-bail-will-not-bring-untold-misery-zambia-mutati/">economic bail out with the International Monetary Fund</a>.
Presenting its authoritarian backsliding in a more palatable way is therefore extremely valuable. By opting for Article 31, Lungu hopes to have his cake and eat it. He will have secured powers to consolidate his political control while generating “plausible deniability” to whether or not he has fatally undermined Zambian democracy.
To some extent this strategy has been successful. Initial Facebook and twitter <a href="https://www.facebook.com/nic.cheeseman/posts/1301668219959781?pnref=story">conversations</a> about how the measure could be reversed quickly gave way to confusion and arguments about what the president had actually declared, and what it meant.
<h2>Why did Lungu do it?</h2>
The official reason behind the president’s request for extra powers is a spate of civil disobedience and arson that has seen a number of markets burnt down. The immediate trigger was a fire that destroyed the country’s largest, the <a href="http://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00053416.html">City Market in Lusaka</a>.
But the president’s claim to simply be acting in the interests of law and order has been fiercely contested by critics. Instead, <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-zambia-politics-idUSKBN17Q0W8">opposition leaders allege</a> that the government has been either taking advantage of natural fires or deliberately starting them to justify the extension of authoritarian control.
This claim is lent credibility by the fact that the investigation of the City Market fire had only just begun when the decision to expand the president’s powers was taken. Rumours circulating in Zambia suggest that in fact it resulted from an <a href="http://zambia24.com/news/2017/07/04/city-market-fire-resulted-from-an-electrical-fault-onlookers/">electrical fault rather than sabotage</a>.
If this is true, it raises the question of what lies behind Lungu’s increasingly aggressive strategy. Three overlapping explanations are circulating, all of which have a degree of plausibility.
The first is that it’s simply another way of intimidating the opposition. In addition to <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-need-to-talk-about-zambia-as-it-falls-from-grace-under-president-lungu-77520">arresting United Party for National Development leader Hakainde Hichilema</a>, popularly known as HH, the government has tried various ways to clamp down on opposition to its rule. This has included the <a href="https://theconversation.com/zambia-slides-towards-authoritarianism-as-imf-props-up-government-79533">suspension of 48 opposition MPs</a>. And fears that Hichilema might be acquitted by the High Court, and subsequently released, are said to explain the timing of the president’s statement.
The second is that the president faces serious challenges within the Patriotic Front, where some question his suitability to lead. In addition to rumours that he is in <a href="http://www.zambianobserver.com/edgar-lungu-gets-more-sick-stops-talking/">bad health</a>, this makes him potentially more <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-05-zambia">vulnerable to internal opposition</a> than to the challenge of the main opposition party. On this interpretation, Lungu’s appropriation of extra powers is designed as a warning to his rivals within the party to back off.
Finally, some see his decision as being motivated by his desire to secure a <a href="http://democracyinafrica.org/zambia-president-lungu-third-term/">third term in office</a> when his current term ends in 2021. The legality of this is questionable, and the move is fiercely opposed by opposition parties.
On their own, none of these claims fully explains why Lungu has opted for such a controversial move when IMF negotiations are at a delicate stage. In reality it may be that the president’s actions are explained by some combination of all three – or indeed, an alternative explanation that has not yet come to light.
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
There’s <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-05-zambia%20%22%22">confusion</a> about exactly where Lungu intends to go from here. In a presidential address in the last hour his stance appeared to harden, rejecting international criticism and <a href="https://www.themastonline.com/2017/07/06/imf-can-go-lungu/">stating that:</a> “If they [IMF] think I am going astray, let them go.”
According to <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-07-05-zambia">Nicole Beardsworth</a>, a senior researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand’s Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Lungu’s declaration will give him <a href="http://www.parliament.gov.zm/sites/default/files/documents/acts/Preservation%20of%20Public%20Security%20Act.pdf">additional powers</a>. Moreover, if his statutory instrument is approved by Parliament, it can be extended for a period of months.
This would seem to give the president all the time and powers he would need to further cow internal and external opposition, although it’s still possible that he will seek to apply a full state of emergency.
What may prevent this from happening is concern within the cabinet that such a move would be unnecessary and counterproductive. Not all leaders of the Patriotic Front agree with the direction that Lungu is taking his country in. Push back in a cabinet meeting is said to have prevented an even more forceful declaration.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.edu.au/content/80628/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />Given the president’s new found capacity to control the media and intimidate the opposition, these internal constraints may prove to be Zambia’s best hope of avoiding dictatorship.
<a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nic-cheeseman-180800">Nic Cheeseman</a>, Professor of Democracy, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-birmingham-1138">University of Birmingham</a>
This article was originally published on <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a>. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/lungu-tries-to-have-his-cake-and-eat-it-a-state-of-emergency-in-all-but-name-80628">original article</a>.

Zambia: A democracy thrown over the edge

Zambia&#8217;s economy is expected to grow by 4.1 percent in 2017 and by close to 5 percent by 2019, the World Bank said on Thursday, but the global lender also warned that stricter spending controls were needed to ease the country&#8217;s large debt burden.
&#8220;The government has started to reduce the large stock of expenditure arrears but further efforts are needed to improve budgetary controls and better withstand fiscal pressures if the national debt is to remain at sustainable levels,&#8221; the bank said in a report.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Writing by Mfuneko Toyana; Editing by Ed Stoddard)

World Bank expects faster economic growth for Zambia, warns of rising debt

LUSAKA (Reuters) &#8211; Zambia&#8217;s parliament suspended 48 opposition lawmakers on Tuesday for boycotting a speech by the president, widening a political rift that has alarmed rights groups.
Parliament&#8217;s speaker barred the United Party for National Development (UPND) politicians from taking their seats for 30 days, a move that banned them from the building and stopped their pay.
Their party, which was defeated in August elections that it said were rigged, called the suspensions unconstitutional.
The lawmakers boycotted President Edgar Lungu&#8217;s address at the official opening of the assembly in March, saying they did not recognise him as leader.
A month later, the UPND&#8217;s leader, Hakainde Hichilema, and five others were arrested and charged with treason after a column of opposition vehicles failed to make way for Lungu&#8217;s motorcade.
Amnesty International has said the treason charges are &#8220;trumped up&#8221; and called for the politicians&#8217; release.
On Tuesday, parliament&#8217;s speaker Patrick Matibini told the opposition lawmakers: &#8220;I challenge you to resign on moral grounds if you do not recognise that there is a legitimately elected government.&#8221;
The suspensions affected 48 of the party&#8217;s 58 MPs. The remaining 10 had officially excused themselves from attending parliament on the day of Lungu&#8217;s speech and were not included in the suspension.
Hichilema was moved from a prison in Lusaka to a maximum security facility outside the capital on June 9.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Zambia suspends 48 opposition MPs for snubbing president’s speech

Chris Mfula | LUSAKA
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) may grant Zambia up to $1.3 billion in a three-year credit facility to help plug a budget deficit of around 7 percent, the lender&#8217;s mission chief said on Saturday.
A decision will be made by the IMF board in August, Tsidi Tsikata told a joint news conference with the Zambian finance ministry, which pledged to halve the deficit to around 4 percent of gross national product by 2019.
Africa&#8217;s second-biggest copper producer has suffered from the steep commodity price drop of recent years. Last March, Zambia began talks with the IMF about a potential loan package after agreeing that its budget deficit was not sustainable.
Tsikita said Zambia needed to take concrete steps to achieve fiscal consolidation targets outlined in the 2017 budget which include improving revenue collection, limiting borrowing and scaling back on new capital projects.
<blockquote>&#8220;We aim to reach understanding in the coming weeks that would form the basis for presenting the authorities&#8217; request for an ECF (Extended Credit Facility) arrangement and report on the 2017 Article IV consultation to the IMF board in August 2017.&#8221;</blockquote>
The southern African country joined other sub-Saharan nations in borrowing on the eurobond market between 2012 and 2015, selling dollar-denominated debt.
The government relied on external financing as revenues failed to keep pace with spending.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; editing by Alexander Smith)
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IMF may grant Zambia $1.3 billion funding package

Chris Mfula | LUSAKA
Zambian opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema, who is facing treason charges for impeding a presidential motorcade, has been moved from a prison in Lusaka to a maximum security facility outside the capital, a prison source said on Friday.
Hichilema and five others who were moved with him are accused of trying to overthrow the government after a column of opposition vehicles failed to make way for President Edgar Lungu.
The case has stoked political tensions in what is regarded as one of Africa&#8217;s more stable and functional democracies following a bruising election last year.
<blockquote>&#8220;They arrived at Mukobeko this morning,&#8221; a source told Reuters, referring to a maximum security prison in Kabwe, about 150 km (90 miles) north of Lusaka.</blockquote>
Hichilema lawyer Jack Mwiimbu confirmed Hichilema had been moved but said he did not know where to.
<blockquote>&#8220;We are not privy to where they have been taken. They were taken to the City Airport and flown to an unknown destination,&#8221; he told Reuters.</blockquote>
The move went against a court order specifying Hichilema should be confined to Lusaka Central prison, he added.
Home Affairs minister Stephen Kampyongo could not be reached for comment.
Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National Development, was arrested in April when police raided his home and charged him with trying to overthrow the government.
An economist and businessman widely known by his &#8220;HH&#8221; initials, Hichilema was defeated in August by Lungu in an election he denounced as fraudulent. His attempts to mount a legal challenge have been unsuccessful.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Ed Cropley)
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Zambia opposition leader moved to maximum security prison

Zambia&#8217;s opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema will go on trial at a high court on treason charges, a magistrate said on Thursday, in a case that has stoked political tensions following a contested election last year.
Hichilema, leader of the United Party for National Development, was arrested in April when police raided his home and charged him with trying to overthrow the government.
An economist and businessman known as &#8220;HH&#8221;, Hichilema was defeated last August by President Edgar Lungu in an election he said was fraudulent. His attempts to mount a legal challenge have so far been unsuccessful.
&#8220;I hereby commit the accused persons forthwith to the high court for trial,&#8221; magistrate David Simusamba said before a packed court room. He did not specify which court would hear the case.
Hichilema&#8217;s lawyers previously said the case should not proceed to a high court because the officer who issued the trial papers had no authority to do so.
Looking composed in a red coat and red shirt, Hichilema told journalists he hoped the trial would start quickly.
&#8220;We have always been ready for trial. I am in court because of hatred. We need a dedicated judge to deal with our matter expeditiously,&#8221; Hichilema said, before being led back to prison.
Defence lawyer Jack Mwiimbu told journalists a high court judge would now have to set the dates for the trial.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Joe Brock)

Zambian opposition leader’s treason case headed for trial

Chris Mfula | LUSAKA
The World Bank will lend Zambia $600 million under its International Development Assistance (IDA) programme over the next three years, the southern African nation&#8217;s presidency said on Friday.
Presidential spokesman Amos Chanda told journalists after World Bank vice-president for Africa Makhtar Diop paid a courtesy call on President Edgar Lungu that $150 million would come in direct support for the budget.
&#8220;The World Bank is very confident with the steps that Zambia is taking to stabilise the economy,&#8221; Chanda said.
Zambia is likely to receive $1.6 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) later this year, the presidency said on April 21, with a review meeting set for June to finalise the agreement.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; editing by Ed Stoddard/Mark Heinrich)
&nbsp;

World Bank approves $600 million in loans for Zambia over 3 years

Chris Mfula | LUSAKA
Zambia is close to reaching an agreement with mining companies over its plans to increase electricity prices, Finance Minister Felix Mutati said on Wednesday.
The government last month proposed introducing a flat tariff of 9.30 U.S. cents/kilowatt hour (kWh) backdated to January for mining companies, instead of individually negotiated rates that have averaged 6 U.S. cents/kWh, but mining companies opposed the plan.
A team headed by the minister of energy was due to hold talks with mining companies this week, including First Quantum Minerals,.
&#8220;We have concluded with all the mining houses except for one. They have accepted our proposal to actually pay 9.33 cents/kwh,&#8221; Mutati told Reuters.
However, an agreement has not yet been reached on backdating the higher tariffs to January as proposed by power firm Zesco Ltd, he said.
&#8220;It is part of the negotiations but ideally that is what the government is considering,&#8221; Mutati said.
Other mining companies operating in Zambia, Africa&#8217;s No. 2 copper producer, include Glencore of Switzerland, Brazil&#8217;s Vale and London-listed Vedanta Resources.
Last week Zambia&#8217;s Energy Regulation Board (ERB) approved a 75 percent increase in the price of electricity for retail customers.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by James Macharia and Susan Fenton)
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Zambian government says close to agreement with mines on electricity price rises

Access to electricity is key to Africa’s future. It is the springboard to increased prosperity and a better quality of life. Without it, children struggle to study, ideas won’t be transformed into thriving businesses and the continent will never completely plug into the global economy.
But as many as seven in ten Africans can’t depend on reliable power. This is a huge brake, both on their ambitions and the continent’s development. Unless we can overcome this energy deficit, Africa’s economic and social progress will be crippled.
The scale of the challenge is clear. Only 60 per cent of properties in sub-Saharan Africa are connected to an electricity grid. Rural areas, in particular, find themselves cut off from power.
Millions of Africans know, connection itself is by no means a guarantee of reliable supply. Blackouts are a fact of everyday life across much of the continent.
[bc_video video_id=&#8221;5420324984001&#8243; account_id=&#8221;1571595826001&#8243; player_id=&#8221;default&#8221;]
In Ghana, Afrobarometer found that, while 87 per cent of homes are connected to a grid, less than half enjoyed reliable power. The African Development Bank discovered that manufacturers lose an average of 56 days a year of production because of power shortages.
And when energy does arrive, the price can be three times more than consumers pay in other regions – even in those countries with similar levels of economic development. When businesses or families have to rely on diesel-based generators, costs can be even higher.
With Africa’s population forecast to double to 2.4 billion by 2050, the continent is set to make up nearly a quarter of the global workforce. Managing the mismatch between power supply and demand requires urgent action. This is why providing the power Africa needs ranks among the most important global challenges.
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/M-WdM2SCWXM" width="600" height="450" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
Africa does not lack energy resources. The continent has vast fossil fuel reserves, and will be powered by renewable energy in the longer term. Its climate in large parts provides ideal conditions for solar and wind power generation. Only a fraction of Africa’s hydroelectric and geothermal potential has yet been exploited.
Innovation, investment and partnerships are needed to harness this rich energy potential, and ensure the continent’s communities and businesses can prosper.
Since 2000, investment in sub-Saharan African energy supply has more than doubled. But it is still nowhere near enough to meet the shortfall in generation capacity and, critically, to put in place the infrastructure to get electricity to the entire continent.
Official estimates show that sub-Saharan Africa will need $450 billion in power sector investment within the next 20-30 years. Most of this will have to come from outside our continent.
This is why partnerships are so critical to overcoming Africa’s energy challenge. We need the courage to forge new partnerships and show investors the rewards of working with African governments and companies, to drive growth within the continent. In turn, governments will have to work hard to provide the stable conditions to attract investment.
We also need to take a regional view. One successful example is the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP). SAPP connects 12 countries across the region. This means that power coming from a new gas-powered plant in north-east Mozambique won’t just help get electricity to the 70 per cent of the population in that country without access. It also offers the possibility of sending it to places it is needed, such as Malawi or Zambia.
Just as we have adapted mobile technology to leapfrog the need for fixed phone networks, Africa can also lead the world in innovative energy solutions.
These solutions must also be combined with initiatives tailored to local conditions and communities, using the resources available in those places. In some areas, small-scale solar power combined with biomass technology can meet the needs of rural villages without expensive power lines having to be put in place.
Solutions must also be affordable for the consumer. For example, replacing charcoal with more affordable and environmental friendly briquettes saves consumers money, as well as the environment. Great Lakes Africa Energy is take a lead in such initiatives.
Tackling Africa’s energy deficit must be a priority for the continent. But it should also be high on the global agenda. Providing access to reliable and affordable energy is key to Africa’s prosperity. And a prosperous Africa is key to a strong global economy in the decades ahead.
*Humphrey Kariuki is Chairman of Great Lakes Africa Energy and the Dalbit Group

Op-ed: Tackling Africa’s energy deficit must be a priority for the continent

(DURBAN) When the first of more than 1000 delegates, expected at this World Economic Forum Africa gathering in Durban, began arriving on the eve of this conference the temperature was 25 degrees and the locals said it was chilly. Most who live this close to the Indian Ocean are use to 30 degrees plus for most of the year.
For the next three days, in Durban, the interest in the economies of Africa is likely to be running hot.
Organisers say more than 100 countries from around the world will be represented at this year&#8217;s WEF Africa compared to 70 at last year&#8217;s WEF in Rwanda. Some of the surprise attendees this year is the German Finance Minister &#8211; who is bringing a plane load of CEOs with him- and the deputy leader of Singapore.
There will also be a strong contingent of African leaders in Durban. Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe will attend his first WEF since Tanzania in 2010. Yoweri Museveni, the leader of Uganda, has also confirmed along with Edgar Lungu of Zambia and King Mswati of Swaziland.
For more read: 
<a href="http://cnbc.africa/insights/world-economic-forum/2017/05/02/world-economic-forum-preview-africa-hub-opportunities-waiting-unlocked/"> 
World Economic Forum Preview: Africa – a hub of opportunities, waiting to be unlocked!</a>
<div class="simple-thumb"><a href="http://cnbc.africa/insights/world-economic-forum/wef-africa-2017/2017/05/02/wef-africa-preview/">The World Economic Forum roadshow lands in Africa</a></div>

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Zambian opposition leader’s treason case headed for trial

World Bank approves $600 million in loans for Zambia over 3 years

Zambian government says close to agreement with mines on electricity price rises

Op-ed: Tackling Africa’s energy deficit must be a priority for the continent

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to attend first WEF since Tanzania 2010

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Zambia

Zambia to resume talks with IMF over possible aid programme in October

Zambia GDP growth seen rising to 6.1% by 2020

Op-Ed: Africa is on the cusp of a wind energy revolution, it’s time to grasp it

Investing in Africa’s youth to harness the demographic dividend

Zambia to drop treason charges against opposition leader

Zambians are worried about their democracy. But will they stand up?

Zambia says emergency rule may end early if sabotage stops

Zambia: A democracy thrown over the edge

World Bank expects faster economic growth for Zambia, warns of rising debt

Zambia suspends 48 opposition MPs for snubbing president’s speech

IMF may grant Zambia $1.3 billion funding package

Zambia opposition leader moved to maximum security prison

Zambian opposition leader’s treason case headed for trial

World Bank approves $600 million in loans for Zambia over 3 years

Zambian government says close to agreement with mines on electricity price rises

Op-ed: Tackling Africa’s energy deficit must be a priority for the continent

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe to attend first WEF since Tanzania 2010

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Advertise With Us

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