By Nawa Mutumweno – The World Bank will early this year give Zambia $171 million to enhance diversification and employment creation in agribusiness. The Bretton Woods institution’s Group president Robert Zoellick has paid tribute to Zambia for its efforts to reform the economy, calling for promotion of inclusive economic growth to create opportunities for rural populations to mitigate poverty. According to a statement obtained from the World Bank office in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, its board of directors will examine $115 million in financing for water infrastructure such as dams and irrigation canals in March 2011 expected to benefit about... Continue Reading
Publish Date: Wednesday, January 19th 2011 |
By Nawa Mutumweno – Zambia National Building Society (ZNBS) will in May this year start re-developing Society House in Lusaka’s central business district at a cost of $100 million. In 1997, fire partially burnt the building, leaving 11 out of the 19 floors affected and since then, ZNBS has been seeking a developer to redesign the building. According to ZNBS senior manager property and estates Logan Nyasulu, works will start on May 1, 2011, once the tenants vacate the premises. The tenants have been given a six-week notice to vacate and pave way for the redevelopment of one of the... Continue Reading
Publish Date: Saturday, January 15th 2011 |
Nawa Mutumweno – Chinese direct investment into Zambia have exceeded $3 billion from $1 billion recorded last year. According to Chinese ambassador to Zambia, Li Qiangmin, Zambia’s exports to China have increased to $2 billion compared with imports of $200 million, signifying the Asian country’s growing consumption of copper and other raw materials needed to fuel the world’s fastest growing economy. The bulk of Chinese investments into the country were in mining while there is growing interest in agriculture, construction and forestry. “By the end of November 2010, the total recorded direct investments from China into Zambia was over $3... Continue Reading
Publish Date: Saturday, January 15th 2011 |
By Nawa Mutumweno – Zambia telecommunications firm, ZAMTEL, will in the next two years invest $180 million (about ZMK 852 billion) to expand and enhance its operations. According to company managing director Hans Paulsen, ZAMTEL plans to invest in infrastructure development to increase its subscriber base to 2 million over the next two years in addition to improving its service provision. “We are in the process of bringing in investment programmes to grow infrastructure. Initially, we had targeted to spend $120 million but we realized this was not enough. We are now going to spend $180 million over the next... Continue Reading
Publish Date: Saturday, January 15th 2011 |
By Nawa Mutumweno – Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide 8 000 tonnes of copper cathode annually to an Egyptian company, Giza Cable Industries, which is to set up a cable manufacturing plant in Zambia. This comes on the backdrop of President Rupiah Banda’s recent visit to Egypt where the two countries sealed business transactions involving investments totaling over $70 million. KCM corporate affairs manager Jacqueline Kabeta disclosed this in a statement issued in Kitwe on January 8, 2011. “KCM has undertaken to provide 8 000 metric tonnes of the copper cathodes to... Continue Reading
Publish Date: Tuesday, January 11th 2011 |
