Zambia has no definite policy on management of public debt. The current debt management practice and principles are mainly defined through the Loans and Guarantees (Authorizations) Act under Cap 366 of the Laws of Zambia. The Act gives authority to the Minister of Finance to mobilize resources both internally and externally to support the budget and to finance development projects indentified in the National Development Plan. Furthermore, the Act allows for government to guarantee loans. With regard to domestic debt management, the Bank of Zambia in collaboration with the department of Investments and Debt Management (IDM) manages the portfolio as agent of the Minister of Finance. The bank issues and administers treasury bills, stocks and bonds.
Zambia Railways / Railway Systems of Zambia line from Copper Belt – Lusaka – Victoria Falls – Joburg – Durban was built early 1900s to transport minerals. Lusaka was originally a rail junction. TAZARA to Dar es Salaam built in 1970s following UDI in S. Rhodesia. All copper and most trade transported by rail until 1990s
Zambia is a landlocked country bordering with Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia. Most of these countries trade with the eastern and western world through transiting much of their cargo through Zambia as a transit nation. Well noted that there has been very little discussion on the Railway Sector and how to expand or improve on the existing infrastructure and services. Road construction is on-going and road is the most commonly used mode of transport but is ultimately more costly than Rail, particularly for transportation of bulky materials. Zambia needs to shift its cargo load from Roads to Rail if it is to deal with excessive Road Cargo movements arising out of the expansion of the Mining and Agriculture Sectors.
Poverty reduction remains a central challenge in developing countries including zambia. poverty reduction can be achieved via; static redistribution (one-off effect), distribution-neutral growth and growth that favors the poor ( pro poor growth).
lowerinequality directly reduces poverty. lower inequality increases poverty effect of distribution-neutral growth and lower inequality promotes higher growth.
however, distribution pattern of growth is highly uneven; sharply rising inequality, esp between 1998 and 2004.
Poverty reduction remains a central challenge in developing countries including zambia. poverty reduction can be achieved via; static redistribution (one-off effect), distribution-neutral growth and growth that favors the poor ( pro poor growth).
lowerinequality directly reduces poverty. lower inequality increases poverty effect of distribution-neutral growth and lower inequality promotes higher growth.
however, distribution pattern of growth is highly uneven; sharply rising inequality, esp between 1998 and 2004.
As of late 2010, the Economics Association of Zambia had made considerable progress towards institutional sustainability. In the last three years the Association achieved several important milestones:
• Its contribution to social and economic development has increased. This has been through studies, public discussion meetings throughout the country and support to the National Assembly of Zambia.
• Individual and corporate membership has grown substantially from less than 10 corporate members in 2007 to close to 30 in 2010; from less than 200 individual members in 2007 to close to 400 members in 2010.
• The Association has purchased and moved in to its own premises in Rhodes Park. This not only provides institutional stability but improves the image of the Association.
• The Association’s consultancy and programme management capacity has grown from earnings of less than K20m in 2007 to over K300m now.
• The Association has established close working relations with Local Civil Society Organisations and Higher Learning Institutions in addition to Regional and International Organisations such as Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA), International Budget Partnership (IBP), Parliamentary Centre of Ghana (PC), AFRODAD, IDASA, and many others with which joint assignments have been undertaken over the years.
Key among those who have supported this transformation was the Royal Danish Embassy which provided core funding for two years from 2008 and 2009.
However, late 2010 and early 2011 saw the Association encounter financial difficulties, which have threatened these achievements. Conscious of the importance of its mission, and committed to resuming the progress that was made through 2010, the Association has set about dealing with these difficulties through short- and long-term measures. It has been a sobering experience, but a turnaround has been made. The Association has learnt from its mistakes and, with regular, consistent and scaled-up support, is now ready to further strengthen its role and contribution to policy development and to improving economic literacy in Zambia.
This presentation is based on three broad themes; The Solidifying global recovery, Old policy issues that need to be addressed and arising New policy issues.
Global recovery remains multispeed; 6.5 percent growth in emerging markets, 2.5 percent growth in Advanced economies and 4 percent global growth. Following the global crisis, emerging market economies are the drivers of global growth.
The role of the Refinery was to process spiked crude to meet the petroleum product requirement of the Zambian Market and also supply of excess products to markets to the neighboring countries in the region. The production of petroleum products at the refinery for January to June 2007 were more than January to June 2006. This production was as planned but in some cases more than the planned volumes. Historical Consumption and losses was planned at 10%, although performance was above.
High transport costs in a nation affects the prices of goods. Zambian Fuel costs are the highest in the region and probably in Africa. Despite Tax cuts, Zambian Fuel prices are still among the highest in Africa. There are several reasons why costs are so high in Zambia. The Zambian government is the main operator in Zambian fuel Market. The Inefficiencies in; Feedstock Procurement, Tazama Pipeline, Indeni Refinery, Distribution, Monopoly and Role of Government. For effective affordable fuel supply there is need to seriously address the main factors.
