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Irish Education Minister visits

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The Minister for Education and Science Mary Hanafin is travelling to Zambia today as part of a mission to examine practical ways to support teacher training initiatives in the country.

The Irish Government, through Ireland Aid, has supported development programmes in Zambia, with the education sector receiving €8.4 million this year to develop initiatives.

Before departing for Lusaka, Minister Mary Hanafin said she wanted to see the work carried out by Irish people in education projects at first hand.

“With increasing numbers of children attending formal schooling in Zambia, the challenge now is for more fully qualified teachers to be available. Tackling issues such as improving literacy can only be done when more trained teachers are available to schools,” she said.

“I am delighted that the Irish teacher training colleges are represented on this mission and that they are willing to lend their support to initiatives which will focus on improving the quality of teaching and teacher education, in Zambia,” she added.

During her visit to Zambia, Ms Hanafin will meet the Zambian education minister and senior education officials.

She will go to a number of outlying regions to meet people involved in education there and visit a number of schools and projects that are supported by Ireland Aid, including projects that have a focus on HIV/Aids and links with education.

The Ireland Aid programme in Zambia began in 1982; this year an overall budget of €22 million has been allocated for projects in education, health, HIV/Aids, water and sanitation, and to promote more effective and inclusive local governance.

Voluntary Medical Scheme Introduced

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The Government has introduced a voluntary medical scheme for public service workers following an agreement with the public service unions, Zambia Daily Mail reported Monday.

Employees and the government will be required to contribute 40 and 60 percent of the subscriptions respectively, said the report.

The government has signed a two-year contract with the Premier Services Medical Aid Society, which shall administer the voluntary medical scheme for the public service employees on behalf of the government with effect from Jan. 1, 2007.

Under the contract, Premier Medical Aid Society shall provide free plans of the scheme which will carry optional different subscriptions.

These will be guardian plan at a monthly rate of 25,000 kwacha (six U.S. dollars), excel plan at a rate of 45,000 kwacha and premier plan at a rate of 90,000 kwacha.

All these amounts will be shared between the employees and government according to the agreed upon percentages.

Those who opt to join the scheme have a choice of the three plans in accordance with their ability to pay, said the report.

Cold reception for China’s president

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Chinese PresidentChina’s pledge to pour US$800 million into Zambia over the next three years has been given a frosty reception on the ground, as many locals believe the investment will hold little benefit for the people, two-thirds of whom live on one dollar or less a day.

Chinese president Hu Jintao made the multi-million dollar announcement on Sunday, when he also wrote off $11 million worth of debt, promised to build schools, and provide agricultural training and loans for road-construction equipment. A trip to Copperbelt Province to lay the foundation stone for a national stadium was cancelled at the last minute, apparently over fears that he would be embarrassed by a protest over poor working conditions planned by mine workers.

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Getting Registered in South Africa

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How to register as a General Practitioner in South Africa

Step 1.

Apply to the F.W.M.P (Foreign Workforce Management Program) based in Pretoria. (They allegedly do not support employment of doctors from developing countries.)

You will be asked provide the following

  • Covering letter giving details of your reasons for migrating from your country of origin.
  • Copy of all pages of your passport
  • Curriculum vitae
  • Qualifications
  • Proof of verification of qualifications
  • Proof of professional registration status
  • Proof of passing relevant SA professional council exams (exam fee R1500)

Their address is Private bag x828, Pretoria 0001. Telephone – 012-312-0467 / 0498 / 0722 / 0725.

Step 2.

Apply to the H.P.C.S.A ( Health Professions Council of South Africa)

Requirements:

  • Notarised copy of degree certificate
  • Proof of internship training ( fill in form 10 )
  • Verification of credentials by the ECFMG
  • Certificate of good standing
  • Proof of citizenship
  • Letter of employability issued by FWMP
  • Examination fee
  • Registration fee
  • Form 12

To obtain relevant forms and more detailed information contact the H.P.S.C.A. Their homepage is www.hpcsa.co.za

Disclaimer: This section serves as a guide only and author of this section has taken all possible care to provide accurate information. The author, however will not be held responsible for loss or inconvenience that may arise . For detailed information contact relevant authorities.

China launches mining program in Zambia

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Mwanawasa in ChinaChinese President Hu Jintao capped a two-day visit to  Zambia by inaugurating a massive mining investment partnership that has been heralded as a model for Beijing’s growing business interests in Africa. Hu, who arrived in Zambia on Saturday, was traveling Monday to Namibia — his fifth stop on an eight-nation African tour intended to boost Chinese investment in the impoverished continent.

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China offers Zambia tariff-free market

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Lusaka – China had offered Zambia tariff-free market access for its products and would allow its citizens to borrow investment capital from the Bank of China, finance minister Ng’andu Magande said yesterday.

Chinese firms had started feasibility studies on how $800 million (R6 billion) in investments pledged by Beijing would be spent, he added.

President Levy Mwanawasa announced the cash pledge on Saturday after talks with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, who was on a three-day state visit.

Magande said: “It is exciting that China has opened up its market to 452 Zambian products from the previous 192 products, and the best thing is that Zambians can now borrow money from the Bank of China to manufacture goods required to export to that market.”

Relations between China and Zambia have been cordial for decades.

China has invested to help build a major railway line and develop copper mines in the country, which has consistently supported a one-China policy.

The Bank of China has a Zambian branch, which previously provided services only to Chinese investors.

Magande said the $800 million would roll into the country of 11.5 million people over the next three years, starting this year.

He said the investments would include a $250 million copper smelter at Chambishi, which would process 150 000 tons of finished copper starting next year.

Chinese firms investing in Zambia after the creation of a special economic zone in Chambishi would be exempt from paying 25 percent import duty for equipment, while the 17.5 percent value-added tax would be deferred until they began to make a profit, he said.

State media hailed Hu’s visit as the best way to “conduct world politics”.

Magande agreed: “If everyone [in the world] was behaving like this, then there would be more development.”

Zambian Football Saturday Update

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Rainford Kalaba on Friday evening final joined the Zambia Under 23 national team as it winds up its three-week training camp in Kitwe.

The Zesco United midfielder arrived on the eve of the squads’ departure for Lusaka on Sunday ahead of Wednesdays Olympic Games qualifying match against Malawi to be played at Nkoloma stadium.

Kalaba took part in Saturday’s training after arriving in camp early on Friday evening from Ndola.

He joins the squad a day after Peter Kaumba announced his 19-man squad.

Kaumba is certain to drop at least three players to make room for two foreign based players who are expected to join the team within the next 24 hours.

The two players expected are striker Given Singuluma and defender Davies Nkausu of South African division 2 league club’s Bay United and University of Pretoria FC respectively.

Meanwhile Afrisports and Zambia schools international utility player Stophira Nsunzu has recovered from his knee injury sustained last Wednesday in a friendly against Power Dynamos.

Nsunzu took part in Saturday’s training with the rest of his team mates but Power midfielder Chanda Mwaba pulled out midway through the morning session with an ankle sprain.

The squad leaves for Lusaka early Sunday morning and is expected to play its final training match tomorrow afternoon at Nkoloma against Red Arrows.

PF barred from attending Hu ceremonies

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The Government has barred the main opposition party from attending ceremonies marking the visit of Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, because of its anti-China stance.

Zambia has witnessed some of Africa’s most public expressions of unease over China’s growing power, most notably when workers at a Chinese-owned mine rioted over pay.

Vernon Mwaanga, the chief government spokesman, told reporters from state media that the Patriotic Front was the only opposition party not invited to meetings between Hu and Levy Mwanawasa, the Zambian president.

The Patriotic Front has accused the government of selling out to Beijing.

“We have invited opposition party leaders to attend public functions like the state banquet for the Chinese president,” Mwaanga said.

“But … we have not invited any leader of the Patriotic Front because they do not recognise the Chinese people.”

Bilateral ties

Hu, who arrived on Saturday, faces a delicate task in copper-rich Zambia because of widespread local feeling that China is attempting to dominate and ‘colonise’ the local economy.

Zambian officials however said Hu’s visit will spur trade and foreign investment and make Zambia a hub for China’s economic expansion on the world’s poorest continent.

Ng’andu Magande, the finance minister, said that Zambia aimed to strengthen its bilateral ties with China in order to learn from the Asian country’s success in boosting its once-moribund economy.

“The most important thing for us is that China is the fastest growing economy and we are also growing. These relations will help us to find winning ways because China was an [economic] underdog just a few years ago, but they are now performing well,” Magande said.

China did not respond to the opposition’s claims.

“I’m sure that this visit will serve to take China-Zambia relations to a higher level,” Hu said in a statement.
‘Colonise Africa’

Hu and Mwanawasa were due to hold private talks later on Saturday and will then issue a joint communique.

The government has said journalists would not be allowed to ask questions during a joint news conference by Hu and Mwanawasa on Sunday after the two leaders sign trade and economic co-operation agreements.

The Patriotic Front, which narrowly lost elections last year after running on an openly anti-China platform, criticised Hu’s visit.

Guy Scott, Patriotic Front general secretary, said: “They are out to colonise Africa economically and also to get Africa’s solidarity at the United Nations.”

Hu’s trip to Zambia dropped a planned stop in the Copperbelt region, apparently out of fears he might be targeted by protesting families of workers who died in a 2005 explosion at a Chinese-owned mine.

China Offers Zambia Investment Package

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lpm_hu_zam.jpgChinese President Hu Jintao on Saturday offered Zambia a multimillion dollar investment package aimed at boosting ties. Facing mounting accusations of Chinese exploitation of African labor and resources _ an issue during last year’s Zambian presidential elections Hu Jintao stressed that Beijing was motivated by partnership rather than purely profit.

“China is happy to have Zambia as a good friend, good partner and a good brother,” Hu Jintao said at a joint news conference with President Levy Mwanawasa.

Speaking through an interpreter, Hu Jintao said that China’s relationship with Zambia “represents a new type of strategic partnership” in Africa.

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Criticism of China in mineral rich Zambia

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Chinese President Hu Jintao faces a delicate task this week when he visits copper-rich Zambia, where anti-Chinese sentiment is riding high amid fears Beijing is moving to colonise the local economy. Zambian officials say Hu’s visit, which begins tomorrow, will spur trade and foreign investment.


Mining Minister Kalombo Mwansa said: “It’s important because China is investing heavily in our copper mines, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.”


But Zambia has also seen some of Africa’s most public expressions of unease over China’s power, with a riot at a Chinese-owned mine over pay and the opposition party alleging a sell-out.


“They are out to colonise Africa economically and also to get Africa’s solidarity at the United Nations,” said Guy Scott, the general secretary of the opposition Patriotic Front, which narrowly lost elections last year after running on an openly anti-China platform.
“Unfortunately, we cannot stop them and they will get what they want from Africa because they offer aid without conditions.”
Hu’s trip to Zambia dropped a planned stop in the Copperbelt region, apparently out of fears he might be targeted by protesting families of workers who died in a 2005 explosion at a Chinese-owned mine.


Zambian officials say overall the country is sure to profit from its relationship with China and are positioning the country to serve as a “base” for China’s regional economic strategy.


To smooth Chinese and other foreign investment, the town of Chambishi, 420km north of the capital Lusaka, will be “declared a free economic zone” in step with Hu’s visit, Zambian officials said.


Claims that more Chinese investment will create jobs and help modernise infrastructure ring hollow for some, including the Patriotic Front (PF). While the PF failed to unseat President Levy Mwanawasa or his ruling party in last year’s polls, it won considerable support around the country, due in part to its accusations that Chinese firms underpay and mistreat their Zambian wo

Chinese media’s view on Zambia

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　CHINA, ZAMBIA WITNESS BOOMING ECONOMIC COOPERATION

By Shi Shouhe

    LUSAKA, Feb. 2 (Xinhua) — Yan Dongyan, the middle-aged Chinese boss of a Zambian travel agency, could not help grinning as he received a report on the agency’s revenue in 2006.

    Located in Zambia’s most bustling business street in the capital, Dianelink deals with booking and sale of air tickets.

    As more Chinese came to Dianelink to buy flight tickets from here to China or vice versa, the company’s revenue doubled in 2006over the previous year.

    The travel agency, a parameter in measuring the personnel exchanges between China and Zambia, is the very best mirror that reflects the fast-growing economic cooperation between the two countries.     

　　MORE INVESTMENT FROM CHINA

    Since the two countries established diplomatic ties 43 years ago, about 200 Chinese companies have set up business in Zambia, ranging from mining, textile, construction, banking, agriculture to clinic and restaurant, according to statistics from Zambia Investment Center.

    Some of these companies, such as the NFC Africa Mining Company and Zambia China Mulungushi Textile Company, are large-sized and playing an important role in the country’s economy, while a large number of others with a smaller scale are also contributing to Zambia’s development.

    In recent years, Zambia’s investment from China has witnessed a significant growth. China is now Zambia’s third largest investor, after South Africa and Britain, with a total investment of over 500 million U.S. dollars by the end of 2006.

    During the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which was held in November 2006, the Chinese and Zambian governments signed an agreement on building a copper smelter worth some 200 million dollars, which will be constructed by China Nonferrous Metal Mining Group.

    China’s investment in Zambia’s mining industry is of great importance to Zambia, said Kalomo Mwansa, Zambia’s Minister of Mines and Mineral Development.

    “The investment from China will bring in new technology to the sector and create more jobs for our people,” the minister told Xinhua in a recent interview.     

    TRADE BOOM

    China and Zambia have also experienced a rapid trade boom in recent years.

    Bilateral trade in the early 1990s had been only 20 million dollars, but in 2005 it reached 300 million dollars, partly thanks to China’s tax exemption on Zambia’s commodities.

    And the latest statistics indicated that bilateral trade in the first 10 months of 2006 hit 290 million dollars, an increase of 20percent compared with the same period of 2005.

    Chinese President Hu Jintao is currently on an eight-nation Africa tour, of which Zambia would be the fourth leg.

    The top-level visit, Mwansa said, would bring more Chinese investment to Zambia, boost bilateral trade, and strengthen the economic cooperation between the two countries.

    “I believe that there will be more Chinese investment coming after this visit,” the minister said.

    “It’s a very significant visit to Zambia that will enhance our cooperation, bring our relations to a higher level and strengthen the already existing friendship between our two countries,” he added.

Maize Production Almost a Success Story

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maifield_inzambia.jpgZambia is poised to have a maize surplus this season but it is still unlikely that the food will reach many of the 58 percent of Zambians that are classified as extremely poor. The ministry of agriculture recently released a national food balance sheet showing that the country will have a surplus of 160,000 metric tonnes of maize during the 2006/07. In the 2005/06 season the output was 63 percent above the previous season and 54 percent above the five-year average.

Only a few years ago, such a surplus of Zambians’ main staple crop would have seemed an unreachable dream. Successive droughts had caused a food crisis in the eastern and southern parts of the country, the main maize producing areas.

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Government oders cobalt smelter Closure

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The Zambia Government has told Chambishi Metals plc it must shut down its cobalt smelter for 45 to 60 days in order to make repairs following an explosion last month in which its circuit was damaged.

The accident, which happened on January 21, is costing production of 7 t/d of the metal, said Bloomberg citing Zambian mines minister Kalomb Mwansa in a recent parliamentary speech.

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I couldn’t believe I had lost the election – Kalumiana

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Former Nalikwanda member of parliament Simasiku Kalumiana today told the Lusaka high court that he was surprised when he heard that he had lost his seat in the 2006 tripartite elections despite having commanded a lot of support in the area.

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Heavy Rains cuts of Sinazongwe people

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The People of Chiyabi area in Sinazongwe district has been cut off from the rest of the district following collapse the bridge.
Sinazongwe District Commissioner Mr. Lavian Apuleni confirmed the development to ZANIS that the bridge was washed away along Sinazeze Chiyabi road following a heavy down poll.

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