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.

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.

Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda says government is putting in place various measures to ensure mining companies declare correct profits and pay corresponding taxes.

Mr. Chikwanda says the measures include increasing coverage and scope of audits, recruitment of mining engineers in the tax audit team and increasing capacity for officers through specialized training among others.

Speaking during the questions for Oral answer session in parliament this evening, Mr. Chikwanda revealed that the specialized training will focus on complex things such as transfer pricing and use of copper prices on the London Metal Exchange.

GOVERNMENT will continue to ensure stability of the exchange rate by using appropriate fiscal and monetary instruments while maintaining a fine balance between the use of such instruments and growth objectives, Minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda has said.

In ensuring exchange rate stability, Mr Chikwanda said the Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has tightened monetary policy and has been selling foreign exchange to the market, which has led to a relative stability of the currency observed since November, 2015.

On inflation, Mr Chikwanda attributed the higher inflation, which stood at 21.1 percent in December 2015, to the pass-through effects of the sharp depreciation of the Kwacha in the third quarter of 2015 coupled with the high production costs which were induced by power rationing.