Standard Bank Brazil which is one of the major financing institutions in Sub Saharan Africa says it is ready to fund import and export sectors between Southern African Development Community (SADC) member States and Brazil.

Speaking when she addressed Brazil’s SADC Group of Ambassadors during a virtual meeting, Standard Bank Brazil Chief Executive Officer Natalia Dias said she was gratified that the financial institution had already set the ball rolling with the Sugar and Bio Fuel sectors in Zambia.

Ms Dias said Standard Bank Brazil, that trades as Stanbic Bank in Africa has renewed its commitment in supporting the SADC region in developing sectors such as Agricultural Technology, Construction, Manufacturing and Mining through providing financial aid to boost the economies of individual African countries.

“I therefore encourage the SADC Head of Missions to select investment projects in the Agricultural Sector that can easily transform their country’s food security and enhance the Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” she said.

And Zambia’s Ambassador to Brazil Alfreda Mwamba is elated with the financial institution’s commitment to support sectors that are instrumental to economic growth, such as agriculture and manufacturing.

Dr Mwamba told the banking group that funding the sectors in Zambia should be prioritised as both government and the private sector stand ready to promote trade and investment.

Mr Mwamba further called on the Bank to support Africa in business ventures that have the capacity to improve imports and exports for individual countries.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s SADC group of Ambassadors Chairperson Gamiliel Munguambe who is also Mozambique’s Ambassador to Brazil, described SADC and Standard Bank of Brazil business meeting as a back-bone to economic sustainability.

The meeting was aimed at promoting trade and investment opportunities in Africa.

All the SADC diplomats in Brasilia were unanimous in their plea for Standard Bank Brazil, a representative office of South Africa’s Standard Bank group to provide financial muscle to the trade between SADC and Brazil.

This is contained in a statement issued to the media in Lusaka today by First Secretary for Press and Public Relations at the Zambian Embassy in Brazil, Grace Makowane.

Shareholders in ZCCM-IH have overwhelmingly supported its acquisition of a 90% stake in Mopani Copper Mines (MCM).

Glencore agreed the sale of its majority stake in Mopani to ZCCM-IH in a $1.5 billion deal, the miner and trader said in January.

ZCCM-IH said in a statement that the extraordinary general meeting vote on the resolution was the last condition towards the completion of the transaction and ZCCM-IH now holds 100% ownership of Mopani.

The deal is funded by borrowings from Carlisa Investments Corp – a British Virgin Islands-based company through which Glencore holds its stake – and other members of the Glencore group.

ZCCM-IH Chief Executive Mabvuto Chipata said with increased ownership, ZCCM-IH would now be an active participant in the global industry as copper becomes a critical metal.

“Mopani will repay the remaining debt of $1.5 billion from its own cashflows and the repayment is expected to happen well within the remaining life of mine,” Mr. Chipata said.

ZCCM-IH has said it expects to find a new investor for Mopani by the end of the year as it looks to boost copper output from a little more than 34,000 tonnes to 150,000 tonnes.

Glencore said in a separate statement it would continue to retain offtake rights in respect of Mopani’s production.

“The Board is pleased to confirm that all the Conditions Precedent to the Transaction have now been satisfied, allowing for the completion of the Transaction on 31 March 2021. ZCCM-IH is now the holder of 100% of the issued shares in Mopani, transforming the Company from an investment company to owning and operating a multi-billion-dollar mining asset in Zambia. The Board looks forward to providing Shareholders with further updates on Mopani in the coming months,” the statement read.

Donor and borrower country representatives of the International Development Association (IDA) have selected Zambia’s Dr. Denny Kalyalya as the Independent Co-Chair of IDA’s twentieth replenishment (IDA20), which will launch later this month.

In this role, Dr. Kalyalya will champion stronger policy and financial support for IDA20 at political and other stakeholder levels across IDA donor and borrower countries.

Dr. Kalyalya will co-chair the IDA20 Replenishment process with Axel van Trotsenburg, the World Bank’s Managing Director of Operations.

Since IDA18, IDA replenishment meetings have had two co-chairs, comprising an independent eminent personality with adequate knowledge of Multilateral Development Banks, and a high-level representative of the World Bank Group appointed by the President of the institution.

An economist, Dr. Kalyalya has experience at the World Bank Group having served as an Executive Director from 2012 to 2014 and as an Alternate Executive Director from 2010 to 2012, representing Africa Group One Constituency of 22 countries.

Until December 2019, he also served as a Borrower Representative for IDA18 and IDA19.

Since June 2019, he has been serving as a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the African Export and Import Bank.

A Zambian national, Dr. Kalyalya’s experience includes serving as the Governor and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Zambia between 2015 and 2020, having earlier been Deputy Governor responsible for operations.

He has also served on a number of high-level, national, regional and international committees.

Dr. Kalyalya holds a PhD (Economics) and an MA (Economics) from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

He also holds an MA and a BA (Economics) from the University of Zambia.

Background:

In February 2021, IDA donor and borrower country representatives agreed to advance IDA20 by one year, and shorten the IDA19 cycle to two years, due to pressures from the COVID-19 crisis. IDA19 will now cover July 2020 – June 2022, while IDA20 will cover July 2022 – June 2025.

The IDA20 replenishment process presents an opportunity to focus on building back better from the crisis and enhancing the existing IDA policy framework to support the transition to a green, resilient, and inclusive future. Replenishment discussions and negotiations for IDA20 will run from April to December 2021.

IDA is one of the largest sources of funding for fighting extreme poverty in the world’s poorest countries.

IDA provides zero- or low-interest loans and grants to countries for projects and programs that boost economic growth, build resilience, and improve the lives of poor people around the world.

Since 1960, IDA has provided about $422 billion for investments in 114 countries. As an institution of the World Bank Group, IDA combines global expertise with an exclusive focus on reducing poverty and boosting prosperity in the world’s poorest countries.