Bruce Mwale

Zambia’s oil regulator, the Energy Regulation Board - ERB has announced a price reduction on the cost of Low Sulphur Gas Oils - LSG effective midnight Friday 30 th January 2015.   The reduction is by 83 Ngwee per litter, translating into 7.78 percent, while the wholesale price has been reduced by 11.53 ngwee per cubic metres or 0.16 percent. Consumers of low sulphur gas oils are now geared for a price reduction that comes about a forty night after fuel pump prices were reduced by nearly 30 percent. “The current Low Sulphur Gas Oil - LSG was purchased when the international prices were still on the downward trend. Therefore, consistent with the recent price adjustment for other petroleum products, the benefit of the continued drop in the international oil prices is now being extended to the wholesale and pump price for LSG,” ERB Board chairperson Geoffry Mwape said in a statement. For motorists of Low Sulphur diesel this move was long awaited. “A full tank of fuel w...

Zambia’s kwacha ended 2014 as the worst performing African currency among a small basket of countries that are relatively liquid, as falling commodity prices take a toll on some of the continent’s big economies like South Africa and Nigeria. The currency is starting the year on the back foot amid tax rows with mining houses on the new mining regime, a lower growth forecast and a pending election. Trading within K6.35 / K6.36 level against the Dollar for most of the trading session, within the positive territory. The kwacha lost its strength by over 13 percent Despite this government is optimistic of a better performance in 2015. Zambia has cut its 2014 growth forecast to 6 percent – still vulnerable to global standards – from a targeted 6.5 percent, citing various challenges. The forecast for the next three years is 7 percent principally as a result of increased agriculture production, electricity generation, construction and growth in transport and communication but that ma...

A view as you enters Lusaka's central Business District Opening doors to the year 2015 are several changes in Zambia’s taxation system. As the new national budget gets into effect, changes to the mining tax regime area the most prominent. One adjustment is the increase in the mineral royalty tax for underground mining operations from six percent to eight percent and for open cast mining operations from six percent to 20 percent, as final tax. The mining sector will also see a 30 percent company tax on mining income earned from tolling operations while corporate income tax on income earned from processing of purchased mineral ores, concentrates. These changes have already received some sharp reactions from the mining companies and other stakeholders on the negative effects of the mining tax regime. Other mines have vowed to suspend operations if nothing changes. But government has maintained that the upward changes will enhance the country's revenue base but at th...