Browsing: Zambia

• Commodity exchanges are organized marketplaces that facilitate the trading of agricultural commodities such as grains, livestock, and even precious metals.
• These exchanges provide a structured environment for buyers and sellers to come together and exchange commodities based on standardized contracts.
• In Southern Africa, these exchanges have taken on a transformative role in empowering farmers and bolstering the agricultural sector.

Southern Africa’s agriculture is marked by its rich diversity of crops and products. According to International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), agriculture is the largest sector in the East and Southern Africa region, employing 65 per cent of Africa’s labour force and accounting for over 30 per cent of the region’s GDP.

But it’s not without its hurdles. Smallholder farmers, who constitute a substantial portion of the agricultural workforce, often grapple with unpredictable market prices. They also suffer from limited access to credit, and inadequate information on market trends.

Additionally, the …

• One in five people in Africa suffers from hunger.
• With the rising population, action is necessary to ensure access to healthy and sufficient food.
• AfCFTA can serve as a strong incentive for farmers and other participants in agri-food value chain.

Africa’s population is expected to hit two billion by 2050 yet her food security systems remain a fleeting mirage largely due to delayed financial commitments. Granted, in the past two decades, most African governments have placed great emphasis on transforming their food systems but it progress has been rather slow.

Financing of food systems

Currently one in five people in Africa suffers from hunger. And with a population of 1.1 billion people, it is imperative to take immediate action to ensure access to healthy and sufficient food by 2050. So how will Africa achieve this momentous goal? Experts say all the moving parts are in place, all except one, the …

• The African Development Bank offers an initial $150M to Zambia for budgetary support.
• Fresh from striking a debt restructuring agreement with creditors, Zambia will also get an additional $168M per year from AfDB’s non-concessional window.
• AfDB President Dr. Akinwumi Adesina says the lender will aid Zambia in her economic recovery efforts.

Fresh from a successful $6.3 billion debt restructuring deal with bilateral creditors, the African Development Bank (AfDB) is rolling out $150 million support line for Zambia to accelerate the country’s recovery efforts.

In June this year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) lauded the debt treatment agreement struck by Zambia and its official creditors under the G20 Common Framework.

During a meeting with AfDB, Zambia President Hakainde Hichilema acknowledged the significant progress made on official creditor debt. Hichilema, however, highlighted the need to address debt owed to local and external commercial creditors, including Eurobond holders. He expressed the desire to …

Population growth and economic development have necessitated speeding up and scaling up infrastructure development in Africa. Over 28 African nations have seen population growth of more than double in the last 30 years. The population of 26 other African countries will quadruple over the next 30 years. Consequently, funding for the continent’s infrastructure has become essential.…

In the last 20 years, Africa’s external debt has grown fivefold to about $700 billion. According to Chatham House, a policy centre in London, Chinese lenders account for about 12 per cent of that amount. As of November 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank considered 22 low-income African countries to either be in debt distress or facing potential external debt distress.…

• Lithium battery industry to grow over 30 percent annually from 2022 to 2030
• Market value for lithium batteries to exceed US$400 billion by 2030
• DRC, Zambia and Tanzania looking to refine cobalt, manufacture lithium batteries

The sale of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is booming in the transport industry of the developed world, and now Africa wants in.

Rather than continue to supply raw materials for the making of the electric vehicle, countries like DRC, Zambia, and Tanzania, want to refine the ores and even manufacture the final product, lithium batteries.

Their ambitions are well placed because the lithium battery industry is booming and will only keep growing. A 2022 analysis by the McKinsey Battery Insights team projected that the entire lithium-ion battery chain, from mining through recycling, could grow by over 30 percent annually by 2030 when it would reach a value of more than US$400 billion.

“Batteries for mobility applications, …

• Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris toured Tanzania, Ghana, and Zambia. As the United States seeks to weaken China’s and Russia’s alliances with African countries
• In the past, the United States and Europe viewed Africa as a problem to be solved, whereas China concentrated on business, becoming the region’s biggest partner
• Its Part of a Strategic scramble for rare-earth minerals to power the world’s green revolution—cobalt, copper, and nickel, all of which are abundant in several African countries and are essential to electric cars and renewable technologies

Vice President of the United States Kamala Harris toured Tanzania, Ghana, and Zambia. As the United States seeks to weaken China’s and Russia’s alliances with African countries, she is the 18th and most senior American official to tour the continent this year. 11 African nations have been visited by American representatives since January.

First wife Jill Biden and U.S. Treasury …

• The United States has been working to increase its economic and political engagement with Africa in recent years.
• Yellen arrived in Dakar, fresh off a nearly three-hour meeting with China’s vice premier Liu He.
• The Biden administration is trying to counter China’s growing influence and infrastructure in the region by offering African countries an alternative path on economic and political security

US-Africa relations have been on the rise in recent years, and the recent visit by US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to Senegal has further solidified the commitment of the United States to expand economic opportunities for all in Africa.

Yellen’s visit to Senegal, which took place on January 18, 2023, was a clear demonstration of the importance the United States places on its relationship with Africa. During her visit, Yellen met with young entrepreneurs and business leaders, and delivered a speech emphasizing the potential of Africa’s young entrepreneurs and …

Halwampa said ZDA anticipates to increase its performance next quarter through the prospected revision and enactment of the ZDA, and the Investment Trade and Business Development bills into law which will support domestic investment, trade and business development in Zambia.

He further added that the implementation of the US$50, 000 thresholds for local investors will attract local investors to come on board to invest in their own country.

Halwampa has since called on local investors to take interest in investing in the southern African country and take advantage of the favourable environment which government has created to support local investors.…

To have only 3 of the eligible countries in Africa signing up for the initiative is tragic especially given the global economic environment of the world presently. A crippling sovereign crisis is looming on the African horizon. Catalysts of the crisis include a strong United States dollar which has been resurgent during the year.

Debt on the on the books of most African countries is denominated in the greenback and its strength will have an adverse impact on their public finances and their ability to service their loan obligations timeously.

This problem is further compounded by rising interest rates which are certain to make the cost of debt that much more expensive for countries that already cannot afford to be overextended financially.

The debt of most African countries is in the hands of private creditors who in recent time have become as important as their multilateral counterparts. These private creditors …