Zambia | - Part 5

IMF sees Zambia’s 2016 economic growth steady at 3 percent

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambia’s economy should grow by 3 percent this year, largely unchanged from last year as electricity shortages and subdued private sector investment weigh, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Tuesday. The IMF’s forecast was similar to the government’s own growth estimate for 2016. The economy expanded by 2.9 percent in 2015. The IMF Mission Chief to Zambia Tsidi Tsikata said resolute policy action such as the removal of…

Zambia, Zimbabwe Pick AfDB Advisers for $4 Billion Batoka Plant

Posted on by The Editorial Team

HARARE, Capital Markets in Africa: Zambia and Zimbabwe have appointed the African Development Bank as lead financial advisers for the construction of the 2,400-megawatt Batoka Gorge hydro-power project that’s expected to cost $4 billion, an official said. The two southern African nations face severe power shortages as years of under-investment are amplified by low water levels at the Kariba dam hydro-power station that they each rely on for about half of total supplies. “Only yesterday, we were talking…

Zambia’s Lungu Appoints Felix Mutati as His Finance Minister

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LUSAKA, Capital Markets in Africa: Zambian President Edgar Lungu named part of his new cabinet, nominating accountant and ex-commerce and trade minister Felix Mutati as finance minister, the presidency said. Mutati, along with the rest of the partial cabinet Lungu announced, are scheduled to be sworn in Thursday, the presidency said in an e-mailed statement on Wednesday. Mutati, 57, will need to steady an economy that’s expanding at the slowest pace since 1998, where inflation is hovering near 20…

Zambia, IMF Reach ‘Broad Consensus’ on Deal, Lungu Says

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LIUSAKA, Capital Markets in Africa: Zambia has made “great progress and reached broad consensus” with the International Monetary Fund on a planned support package, President-elect Edgar Lungu said. Yields on the nation’s Eurobonds fell to the lowest in more than a year. Lungu, who narrowly won a Aug. 11 presidential election in Africa’s second-biggest copper producer, said in an e-mailed statement that having been elected for a whole term has given him time to implement difficult decisions he…

Investors Bet Vote Dispute Won’t Derail Zambia’s IMF Bailout

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LUSAKA, Zambia, Capital Markets in Africa: Investors are betting disputed elections in Zambia won’t derail the government’s plans to secure an International Monetary Fund bailout that could exceed $1.2 billion and is needed to top up foreign reserves. The Finance Ministry announced in April that it hoped to finalize an IMF aid program for Africa’s second-biggest copper producer by the end of the year. Preliminary talks were put on hold until after Aug. 11 elections, which…

Lungu Wins Zambia Presidential Vote Rival Says Was Rigged

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LUSAKA, Zambia, Capital Markets in Africa: Zambian President Edgar Lungu was declared the winner of an Aug. 11 election that the main opposition said was stolen by the electoral commission and ruling party officials who colluded to rig the outcome — an allegation the authorities deny. Lungu, 59, secured a five-year term with 1.86 million of the about 3.7 million valid votes cast, surpassing the 50 percent mark needed to avoid a runoff, Esau Chulu, chairman of…

Zambians Await Presidential Vote Results After Frenzied Campaign

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LUSAKA, Zambia, Capital Markets in Africa: Ballot counting in Zambia was under way Friday after voting ended in a hotly contested election that pitted President Edgar Lungu against his main challenger, Hakainde Hichilema, for the second time in 19 months. Less than 28,000 votes separated the two men when they contested a snap poll in January last year, after President Michael Sata died in office. While Lungu’s administration has improved the country’s road system and built new clinics and schools, a growth…

« 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 … 15 »