Farmers in Zimbabwe can now use the 99-year leases to borrow money from the banks after Government and bankers ironed out sticking points that made banks reluctant to accept the leases as security. The move, barring El Nino-induced drought, is expected to boost agricultural production and ensure maximum land utilisation.

In an interview yesterday, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said Government and bankers had cleared outstanding issues and came up with a draft tradeable document.

”Boosting productivity is not a once-off thing. ”he said, since the agriculture sector was important as 70 to 90 percent of the population depended on the industry. He said Government was also in the process of remapping farms with financial support from the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme and the resources provided by Treasury. Government is also working to improve irrigation, value addition and macro-environment for the purpose to achieve a rapid and inclusive growth of the country.

ZAMBIA will become a regional exporter of electricity once the development of new sources such as the 600 megawatts (MW) solar photo voltaic power plants are commissioned, Deputy Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Raymond Mpundu has said.

Speaking yesterday at the Zambia scaling solar bidders’ conference, Mr Mpundu said Government has prioritised energy diversification with solar power being a key priority.

He said Government will not be required to support the procurement and development of a large-scale solar power into Zesco through provision of a sovereign guarantee since the World Bank has already confirmed its support for the initial 300MW one through a partial risk guarantee facility (PRG).

The winning bidders will be responsible for the financing, construction, operation and maintenance of their respective plants under 25-year power purchase agreements.

THE ZAMBIA Revenue Authority (ZRA) says workers on the pay as you earn (PAYE) scheme and faithfully pay tithe annually to their churches are eligible for refund by the authority.

ZRA Chipata revenue officer Kafuna Maboshe said as an incentive, the authority can refund faithful Christians who are good church stewards, but that most people did not know about the tithe refund. He said this during a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) professions and business meeting at Lutembwe SDA church in Chipata on Sunday.

Convener of the meeting, SDA Chipata district mission pastor, John Phiri commended the facilitators and said the objective of the meeting was to encourage church members to be effective Christian stewards.

Government of Zimbabwe is working on setting up a $10 billion compensation fund to settle disputes and bring closure to the fast-track land reform exercise. On Wednesday, MDC-T legislator Eddie Cross told the visiting IMF head of Delegation Domenico Fanizza that government was working on a commercial farm compensation fund. He said the comprehensive document was given to legislators on March 1. The document was inserted in legislators’ pigeonholes at Parliament. In an interview on Friday, Cross said legislators were given the document and that the compensation included land, improvements, immovable assets, cattle and tractors.

“The purpose of the fund is to provide resources for the payment of compensation to former farm owners whose farms were acquired by the state under the land reform programme and to enhance productivity on allocated land. The fund shall be administered by the secretary responsible for land and rural resettlement.” he said.

Lands and Rural Resettlement minister Douglas Mombeshora, however, said he was not aware of the document as he was not responsible for compensation, which falls under the purview of Treasury.

(Resource of picture: http://sztqb.sznews.com/html/2009-06/14/content_660372.htm)

Ronald Chitotela (centre) addresses a Zambia
School of Management Studies meeting on the minimum wage in Lusaka

Government says it has sourced funds to facilitate the creation of 500,000 jobs for youths in the country. Deputy Minister of Youth and Sport Ronald Chitotela disclosed this on March 6, 2016 during the Kwacha good morning Zambia programme on Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) in Lusaka.

Mr Chitotela said government intends to create 500, 000 jobs for youths through entrepreneurship before the end of this year.

Mr Chitotela pointed out that thousands of youth across the country have already applied to be considered for the youth empowerment fund in order to start up new and boost old businesses.

Government( Zimbabwe) has cut financial support to some parastatals as part of the efforts to deal with pressures on the fiscus and to force rapid formulation and implementation of turnaround strategies by the State-owned entities, sources have said. While the actual number of the affected companies could not be ascertained, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development has already communicated that position.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said it was time to put under those parastatals who were not performing well, and we should learn from the successful experience of Asian tigers economies which include China, Singapore, Hong Kong and South Korea to let the state-owned entities play a better role.