Thanks to satellite antennas and solar panels, the remotest areas in Zambia are being connected, writes Robert Chisanza.
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/ 14 December 2008
Free-falling global copper prices are causing panic in Zambia, one of the world’s largest copper producers.
Zambia faces uncertainty after the death of Levy Mwanawasa earlier this week, writes Robert Chisanza.
Zambia’s governing Movement for Multiparty Democracy party is suffering a growing leadership crisis after President Levy Mwanawasa’s recent stroke.
Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa effectively put his head on the chopping block this week after he strongly condemned Robert Mugabe’s regime.
The Zambian government has broken its silence about attacks on it by the official Zimbabwean media.
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/ 25 February 2008
As Southern Africa braces for cyclones and more heavy rains, economic analysts warn that the floods already engulfing the region are likely to impact badly on inflation and other fundamental economic indicators. "Naturally, the floods will have an effect," says Oliver Saasa, a consultant economics professor at the University of Zambia.
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/ 18 February 2008
The Zambian government’s attempt to increase earnings from its rich copper deposits by raising mineral taxes to global norms is meeting with resistance from mining companies, which signed legally binding development agreements based on a 0,6% royalty tax. Finance Minister Ng’andu Magande announced in his national budget last month that government had revised the tax regime for the mining industry.
The Zambian government is under increasing pressure from business and labour to increase its mineral taxes in the wake of surging copper prices on the world market but, ÂÂanalysts say, a revision could lead to litigation. Copper prices on the London Metal Exchange have shot to record highs of about  000 per metric tonne.
South Africa’s recent ban on imported second-hand cars driving on South African roads is beginning to hurt the Zambian economy, which has traditionally depended on motor vehicle imports for a portion of its tax revenue. After a protracted two-year legal battle in which clearing and shipping agents challenged the 2005 ban of used cars from using the roads, the Supreme Court of Appeal in Pietermaritzburg last month upheld the ban.