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Low copper prices to hit Zambia's income

Zambia's tax revenues will be hit badly in 2009 unless copper prices rebound, the country's revenue authority (ZAR) was quoted as saying on Wednesday.In April, the government introduced a windfall tax at 25 percent and profit variable tax at 15 percent above eight percent earnings, hoping to raise $415 million additional revenue in 2008 from the copper mines, but these efforts were dashed with plummeting copper prices.ZAR's Commissioner General Chriticles Mwansa told state media that tax...

ZAMBIA: A slow start to saving the trees

LUSAKA Wednesday, December 03, 2008 (IRIN) - Zambians are gradually turning to greener energy technologies to save trees after suffering years of extensive flooding and droughts, which could slow the impact of climate change. Charcoal-fed braziers are being replaced by those burning briquettes made of treated coal waste, which are smokeless and emit low levels of sulphur dioxide gas. Biogas, a mixture of methane and carbon dioxide produced by fermenting organic matter like animal or human...

ZAMBIA: Dr Muzinga, "Many people are demon possessed"

LUSAKA Tuesday, November 25, 2008 (IRIN) - Traditional healers are often the first line of care in Zambia, helping to fill the gaps in a public health system suffering chronic drug shortages and a lack of skilled staff. Mulenga Chola, a traditional healer operating from a makeshift shack in a sprawling shanty compound in the capital, Lusaka, says he can treat people afflicted by poverty, marital problems and demon possession. He uses the pseudonym "Dr Muzinga", meaning "one who resolves...

ZAMBIA: Coping with less and less water

KAOMA Wednesday, October 01, 2008 (IRIN) - Deforestation has affected the water cycle in one of Zambia's largest charcoal-producing regions, forcing residents to adopt unsustainable farming practices in the wetlands, say experts. Since the 1990s, several perennial streams in the Kaoma district of Western Province have become seasonal and some have even dried up, while the water level in the Luena River, which flows through the town of Kaoma, has dropped, say residents. Morris Muchinda,...

ZAMBIA: Powering up, at last

JOHANNESBURG Friday, October 24, 2008 (IRIN) - The Zambian government signed a US$75 million financing agreement with the World Bank this week to provide electricity services to 65,000 new customers, in a country where power cuts have become the norm. The project will improve the existing distribution network of the Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation (ZESCO), the parastatal power utility. It will also promote the use of energy-efficient fluorescent lamps, extend the existing grid in...

ZAMBIA: Hoping for a free and fair election

LUSAKA Tuesday, October 28, 2008 (IRIN) - Widespread allegations of pre-poll irregularities has cranked up tensions in Zambia ahead of presidential elections on 30 October to elect a successor to Levy Mwanawasa, who died in office in August following a stroke. "There is a lot of tension in the country at the moment and stakeholders are generally sceptical that the election will be free and fair. All in all, the ECZ [Electoral Commission of Zambia] is to blame," Simon Kabanda, a spokesperson...

ZAMBIA: Border closed to DRC refugees

LUSAKA Wednesday, October 29, 2008 (IRIN) - The Zambian government has closed its border to any refugees arriving from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as fighting intensifies in the east of the country. "We have been following closely the violence in DRC. I have already ordered the immigration officers to be on extra alert at Kasumbalesa [the border post]," Susan Sikaneta, permanent secretary in the interior ministry, told IRIN. However, the clampdown appears to be more related to...

ZAMBIA: A successful democratic election

LUSAKA Monday, November 03, 2008 (IRIN) - Zambia cemented its democratic credentials on 30 October in an election that observers judged free and fair, even though a defeated opposition leader has disputed the results in what was an exceptionally tight race. "The just-ended elections were credible, peaceful and transparent," said John Kunene, team leader of the electoral observer mission from the Southern African Development Community (SADC). "In the course of observing the elections, we noted...

ZAMBIA: Refugees facing food shortages

LUSAKA Thursday, November 06, 2008 (IRIN) - A funding shortfall is jeopardising food supplies to about 3,000 of the most vulnerable refugees living in two of Zambia's largest camps, a senior UN refugee agency (UNHCR) official has told IRIN. "We have received communications from WFP [World Food Programme] stating that from 2009 they will stop providing food to refugees at the Meheba and Mayukwayukwa refugee settlements. This is due to circumstances beyond their control: they don't have funding...

ZAMBIA: Lower copper prices will hurt the poor

LUSAKA Monday, November 10, 2008 (IRIN) - Lower copper prices will hurt the poorLUSAKA, 10 November 2008 – The fall in international copper prices is causing unease in Zambia, one of the world's largest producers, whose impressive economic growth in recent years has been based on copper exports.Frederick Bantubonse, general manager of the Zambia Chamber of Mines, told IRIN: "It's causing a lot of concern; we are selling, well and good, but the pricing is not as profitable as we would like it...