No Events in October 2017
There will be no Chamber events in October, with so may being away, so our next event will be our monthly lunch in November.
Governance in Zambia
The British Chamber of Commerce in Zambia held an event on Governance in Zambia on 28 September, attended by some sixty members and guests.
We were privileged to have a distinguished panel of speakers to address the gathering:
- Dr Roland Msiska, Secretary to the Cabinet, who spoke about governance in the public sector
- Dr Patrick Chisanga, formerly DG of the ZDA and now running his own corporate governance consultancy, Dynamic Concepts, who spoke about governance for companies
- Ms Barbara Nost, CEO of the Zambia Governance Foundation, who spoke about organisational governance in the not-for-profit sector.
Key elements of governance were presented and discussed, such as integrity, transparency, responsibility, and accountability. Dr Msiska spoke about the key issues in the Zambian public sector and what government is doing to overcome these through improved systems, training and digital transformation. He also noted the difficulties in moving to a fully independent civil service and away from the system of political bias.
Their presentations were followed by an active discussion on topics such as transparency and acts of commission and omission. Their presentations and available for download here.
No events in August
There will be no Chamber events in August, with so may being away, so our next event will be our monthly lunch on 20 September. We will also have a programme of member only and open to all events from September onwards.
What’s In Store for the Zambian Economy
On 26 April the Chamber held an event on the Zambian Economy. The keynote presentation was made by Kapumpe Chola Kaunda, Head of Corporate and Investment Banking at FNB and our discussants were the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce Trade and Industry, Ms Kayula Siame, and Mr Larry Kalala, a former banker and now in business and farming. Mrs Kaunda’s presentation showed how Zambia’s current GDP growth is at 17-year lows due to lopsided sources of growth (mainly copper exports), but starting to recover as copper prices have risen and inflation has steadily fallen to just under 7%, while the yield on treasury bills has fallen to around 14%, down from about 27% a year ago.
While risks remain, the consensus among those present was that Zambia remains one of the best countries in sub-Saharan Africa in which to invest and that this confidence in likely to increase if and when Zambia concludes an agreement with the IMF.
Read the FNB Zambia Presentation.
The Expansion of Regional Supermarket Chains
The Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR) recently published its report on supermarket chains and the implications for local suppliers in Zambia.
The last two decades have seen rapid economic growth in Zambia and the proliferation of foreign supermarket chain stores. However, this growth has translated into neither significant job creation nor significant poverty reduction. Furthermore, while the expansion of supermarket chains in Zambia has continued, local processing firms’ participation in supermarket value chains remains limited. This paper assesses the hindrances to local processing firms’ participation in supermarket value chains and how those firms’ participation might stimulate growth through regional trade. Our results show that local processing firms’ participation in regional supermarket value chains is constrained by a number of factors that pose either strategic or structural barriers to entry.
Read the full report by downloading: ZIPAR Report on The Expansion of Regional Supermarket Chains: Implications for local suppliers in Zambia.
The State of SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Zambia
The British Chamber of Commerce, in association with and support from the Private Enterprise Programme in Zambia (PEPZ), held an evening event in May 2016 on The State of SMEs and Entrepreneurship in Zambia. One hundred members and guests attended, which led to a lively discussion following the formal presentations.
These were made by:
- Bayo Akindeinde, Programme Manager of PEPZ;
- Sonny Zulu, Standard Chartered Bank Head of Retail for Zambia and Southern Africa
- Renata Zeravica, Procurement Manager, SPAR
A common denominator in most presentations were the need for up-to-date and relevant documentation on company products, services and finances (including a legally incorporated company); an ability to supply consistently in terms of quality, packaging and delivery and the need to have barcodes on product packaging. It was also noted that start-up finance for new companies can be hard to obtain from traditional sources which is why programmes such PEPZ, with its Nyamuka Business Plan competition, and the associated Accelerator Fund provided by Kukula Capital play an important catalytic and support role.
The presentations by PEPZ and SPAR can be downloaded below: