Money, inflation , unemployment and interest rates

By Zewelanji Sichone

MONEY: in simple terms is defined as anything that is generally accepted as a medium of exchange or payment of goods and services. 

Money serves as a medium of exchange, store of value and as a unit of account.

Money facilitates transactions. In order for it to be a medium of exchange it must hold value over time.

Money functions as a unit of account. It provides a common measure of the value of goods and services, enabling the seller and buyer determine the price.

INFLATION: is defined as the decline in purchasing power of a given currency over time. Inflation reflects the rise in the cost of living. 

It reduces the purchasing power of a currency and leads to a rise in prices of goods and services. 

UNEMPLOYMENT Simply refers to a state in which individuals are seeking for a job but are unable to find a job.

Unemployment contributes increase in poverty levels,  crime, sickness and disease,   decay in moral standards to mention but a few.

INTEREST RATES: in simple terms, interest is a payment made by a borrower to the lender for the money borrowed. Therefore, Interest rate is the amount a lender charges for the use of assets expressed as a percentage of the principal.

Blockchain National Land Titling Programme

By Brenda Zulu 

So yesterday i was one of the people that submitted property ownership information to Medici Land Governance (MLG)  a company that has partnered with the Ministry of Lands  to build a National  Land Titling Program (NLTP). Submission of property ownership is done at the site of the property. 

MLG enumerators have been going house-to-house to complete applications and collect signatures for official documentation and land titling. MLG collect data using an application that includes pre-vectorized high resolution property images, community verification, and machine learning to support simplified and expanded land titling, regularise unplanned settlements and preventing displacements and also reduce  inequalities of access to land ownership due to income differences. 

For 50 years the property I submitted only had a land record which  shows struggles of the low levels of participation in land registry systems. This low participation is a major barrier to financial inclusion and  economic development, for property owners in Zambia. Without formal ownership, individuals struggle to obtain access to credit and public services, while governments are limited in their ability to collect taxes, enforce property rights, and plan for economic expansion and innovation. 

So data captured were my identity details, pictures of my NRC, picture of the house, GIS Coordinates, a live photograph, a digital signature and my mobile number. Using Blockchain technology I expect MLG to create a secure property system  and improve  utility payments using a mobile application. Land records stored on the blockchain make land ownership transparent, secure, verifiable, and recognizable by local and global economies.

Meanwhile, the main objective of the NLTP according to Ministry of Lands  is to carry out a systematic registration of all property in the country in order to provide security of tenure to property owners.

The National Land Titling Programme is aimed at ensuring that all landowners are issued with Certificates of Title.

Social Media Analytics

By Brenda Zulu 

Content Management
There is an increase of people using social media in these strange times of the  COVID19 era. It is best time to also manage content online and check its performance. What was the top content for your audience? Why did that particular post perform better than other content? How many people shared your content? How many people acted on the content? etc

Audience Insights 
They say audience is king because people now decide which content they like based on their expectations and experiences of the brand. For continued engagement online with your audience, understand them well. Continue to grow your audience everyday and study your engagement patterns.  Grow your generic audience  with daily content updates from your social media and engagement strategy. Always regularly visit your social media insight tool to see content performance.

Influencers
There are always people who like leaving  comments on your content positively and negatively. Incorporate them both in your social media strategy and allow them to drive engagement on your behalf. Find a budget line for influencers. Try it!

Best Time To Post Content
What time does your audience read your content? Try to test content shared on different times and discover the best time to post it by analyzing active fans. You can even schedule your posts.  By the way content with a picture performs better than content without a picture.

Traditional Media Monitoring
Apart from uploading content on your Social Media Page, always share it with traditional media by email in good time for it to be covered before the main news. Using monitoring tools, monitor the content of what you shared and check news outlets that covered it and how it was reported.

#SocialMediaAnalytics
#COVID19zm
#Blogging101

A Cacophony of uncoordinated COVID 19 messaging

By Oliver Kanene 

The widespread public non-adherence to COVID-19 guidelines, which the Cabinet, in particular Dr. Chitalu Chilufya (Minister of Health)  and Hon. Dora Siliya (Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services), have cried out about are a result of an hysterical communication approach at the beginning of the pandemic which only resulted in a cacophony of  uncoordinated mass messages delivered by messengers whose credibility was doubted by citizens.

Loud hailing, ferreting people out of pubs, pursuing buses to catch non-masked passengers, waylaying motorists at roadblocks to charge non-masked drivers and a dearth of stereotyping, myths, pervasive misinformation and failure to strategically engage a willing private and community media, have added to the current laxity among citizens to adhere to recommended public health measures of wearing masks, hand hygiene and social distancing.  They have contributed to infodemics- an excessive amount of information about the pandemic that makes it difficult to identify a solution or build trust in the response to increase the probability that health advice will be followed.  

 Dr. Chilufya and Hon Siliya’s unfortunate contraction of the virus at the height of their communication campaign, and the former’s corruption allegations at a time when COVID-19 resources accountability fears have been raised, have not helped the situation.  If handled appropriately, the illness of the two ministers could have been used positively to exhibit the reality of COVID-19 and to challenge some myths among citizens.

Dr. Chilufya’s recent  caution that the country may record up to 20,000 health facility admissions and close to I,000 COVID-19 deaths per day if people continued flouting the health regulations is a clear adminission that the nation has this far not done well with its Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) strategy implementation. This has resulted in a sudden spike in new cases and deaths reported during the COVID-19 media briefings. What is most frightening is the increasing Brought in Dead numbers, which point to the virus breaching the boundary into densely populated communities where non-adherence levels are reportedly higher. 

In responding to Dr. Chilufya’s timely warning, there is need to get the social and behaviour change science right. Effective messages cannot be designed until there is evidence as to why citizens are not adhering to the health measures.  Consideration should be taken so that the estimated 7.6 million people in 43 districts that are at risk of COVID-19 due to presence of main border crossing, location on major highways or transport corridors, population density, industrial activities and populations with pre-existing health conditions, and the 88,064-refugee population are reached with appropriate messages. 

The United Nations in Zambia has reported that over 4,505,347 people have been reached with COVID-19 messaging on prevention and access to services; and more than 400,000 at-risk people sensitized in door-to-door campaigns in Lusaka.  The achievement, however, is not reflected in the levels of adherence as the UN further reports, in its COVID-19 Emergency Appeal Zambia (May – October 2020),  that partners are concerned that there is a noted relaxation of people’s adherence to proven recommended public health measures.  The Zambian Cabinet has added its voice to this situation.

Following message design, the right messengers and channels for delivery at different social/community levels and platforms should be identified.  In the current politically highly charged and tense atmosphere attention should be paid not to relinquish this task to partisan inclined individuals whether in Government or outside.  Instead the huge cadre of community workers and communication specialists that the Government and its partners have trained and mentored over the years in fields including HIV and AIDS, Water Sanitation and Hygiene, Malaria, Tuberculosis, Maternal and Child Health, Social Welfare, Community Development, Agriculture and others,  should be engaged more aggressively.  These foot soldiers are trusted in the communities in which they work and can enhance the national RCCE effort.

Now that local transmissions are increasing at an alarming rate at community level, there is need for more robust media engagement. Media should be empowered through grants not only to repeat the Minister and other leaders’ statements but to investigate and report on replicatable best practices. Media needs to be provided with clear messages and constant communication with science through weekly cafes. Journalists need interpreted statistics and not only numbers.  Journalists themsleves should apply themselves fully to a coverage of meaning and contect instead of simple events.

Government’s aspiration and efforts to scale down the numbers of new infections and deaths should include a scaled up and more robust communication strategy to more effectively communicate with the public and engage with communities. The energies, resources and experience of the Minister (herself a Communication Specialist) and Permanent Secretary (a senior Media Practitioner) at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services should provide the required foundation for the new strategy.

The short of it is that Zambia cannot afford or contain a mature COVID-19 pandemic which health specialists are warning the nation.

Oliver Kanene, National Facilitator, Swedish International Development (SIDA) International Training Programme (ITP) on Media Development and Self-Regulation and former Executive Director, Zambia Institute of Mass Communication (ZAMCOM)

 

Diary Of A COVID-19 Positive Test

Bjonda Haliti @baeonda

I’m 22 years old and I tested positive for COVID-19. 

I’ve been debating on posting, but I want to share my experience especially with those around my age to help bring awareness, and to relieve any stress/anxiety some may have due to the pandemic. 

Day 1: It started with a mild DRY cough and a slightly sore throat. I was very tired that night. 

Day 2: I felt a lot of pressure in my head to the point I would have to cough softly to avoid the discomfort. That night, I experienced the chills and had a fever. One main symptom that stood out to me, my eyes physically hurt. They were tender and sore. 

Moving them was uncomfortable. Doing some research I discovered this was just a migraine, but it didn’t go away at ALL. I slept all day. 

Day 3: Energy levels VERY low, I only slept, and still ran fevers. At this point, my symptoms were: dry cough, migraine, fever, chills, some nausea. I decided to go to the doctors where I tested negative for the flu and strep. 

The doctor told me I probably just had an infection and prescribed me antibiotics and 800mg of ibuprofen. I made sure to stay extremely hydrated and stocked up on vitamins and probiotics. That night, I still ran a fever. 

Day 4: Finally no more fever, but a new symptom showed up: shortness of breath. It was uncomfortable, it felt like I had bricks on my chest. I tried the self diagnose test I read online (hold your breath and count to 10) which I successfully did with no complications. 

At this point I wanted to test for corona like I should have been in the first place, but It was very difficult to get tested for it!!! I continued to self-quarantine and hydrate hydrate HYDRATE! 

Day 5: Symptoms: sore throat, cough, shortness of breath. I went to the same doctor and I was very adamant about getting tested. Doctor said my vitals were “unremarkable” but I wasn’t going to take no for an answer! I also requested chest X-rays, everything came out normal. 

I was advised to continue self quarantine, and I would receive my results in 5-6 DAYS!!!!! 

Day 6 - With the continued use of antibiotics and ibuprofen, my symptoms were: sore throat, cough, shortness of breath. My energy levels began to increase. 

Day 7 - Symptoms: slight sore throat, mild cough, shortness of breath. Energy levels increasing. 

Day 8 - Symptoms: Mild cough, starting to feel like myself again. Energy! 

Day 9 - Symptoms: My cough was a little heavier, normal energy levels. 

Day 10 - Symptoms: Mild cough, mucus, normal energy levels. My lab results came in: POSITIVE. 

I am continuing to self-isolate and take care of myself. Today I am feeling great and healthy! I will need to retest in order to be cleared. That’s if I can find a doctor whose willing to retest me. Haven’t had any luck so far. 

My DM’s will be open to those who have questions, I hope this was helpful. I wanted to let ppl know that if I got through it, so can you!!! Don’t panic if you are feeling symptoms. Take initiative and follow CDC guidelines. We’re going to get through this! 

Hey guys, thank you so much for your love and support! I am trying to respond to every message and will dedicate the rest of my self isolation to getting back to everyone. Thank you for your patience 

I just want to let everyone know that I have been self isolating at HOME as recommended by my doctor. Here’s a picture of the liquids I’ve been taking to stay hydrated! I can’t stress enough how important it is to HYDRATE! Water is most important!

It’s been brought to my attention ibuprofen could worsen symptoms. As stated, I was prescribed these for a bacterial infection BEFORE I was tested for COVID19. I was taking ibuprofen until day 4 where I no longer felt it was necessary. 

Everyone is asking how I contracted COVID-19. I don’t know. But I did go out on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and my cough started on Sunday. I believe I was exposed to it at the bar/club one of those days. That’s my guess. 

Hence the importance of social distancing! This was at the begininning of the month. 

YES I informed everyone I had been in contact with. It was the first thing I did! 

For those asking me what it’s like: I have dealt with colds in the past that were worse than this. I rated my pain moderate (4/10) when I went to the doctor. The first 3 days were most difficult. 

 Keep Current with Bjonda Haliti

ECA and Zimbabwe sign agreement ahead of forthcoming sustainable development forum

 By Brenda Zulu 

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Zimbabwe government on Wednesday signed an agreement in preparation for the forthcoming Sixth Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD) which Harare is hosting in Victoria Falls from 24-27 February, 2020.

In a press release, Mr. Oliver Chinganya, Director of the African Centre for Statistics, signed on behalf of the ECA, while Mr. Simon Masanga, Permanent Secretary of the Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Ministry, signed for Zimbabwe.

“Signing the agreement adds impetus to preparations for this very important forum that will see Zimbabwe flying the flag for the African continent in terms of the sustainable development goals,” said Mr. Chinganya, who’s also acting Director of the Technology, Climate Change and Natural Resource Management Division at the ECA.

“We will do our best to support Zimbabwe, especially now when the country and the southern African region in general are bearing the brunt of climate change. Discussions will focus on how we can accelerate the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development and Africa’s Agenda 2063. We cannot afford to fail as a continent.”

For his part, Mr. Masanga said Zimbabwe was ready to host the intergovernmental and multi-stakeholder platform that is convened by the ECA in collaboration with the African Union Commission, the African Development Bank and the United Nations system to review progress, share experiences and lessons learned and build consensus on recommendations to accelerate the implementation of the two mutually reinforcing agendas.

“We are grateful for the support that we are receiving from the United Nations in this and other areas as we all seek to ensure that the SDGs are fully implemented and remove millions of our people across the continent from hunger,” Mr. Masanga said.

Mr. Chinganya said the decade 2020 to 2030 presents an opportunity and a window of hope for Africa to dramatically speed up the pace and expand the scale of implementation to deliver the regional and global goals.

The Director is leading an ECA team to assess the preparedness of the various stakeholders on the ground as the Forum gets closer.

Earlier Mr. Chinganya and his team met with the UN Country Team under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator, Ms. Maria Valle Ribeiro, who urged all the UN agencies in the country to work hand-in-glove in supporting the successful hosting of the ARFSD.

“We all have to work together to make a success of this forum, especially as this is the beginning of the decade of action to deliver the SDGs by 2030,” Ms. Ribeiro said.

The ECA team also meet senior officials from Zimbabwe’s Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Ministry, which is working with UNESCO in preparation for the African Regional Science, Technology and Innovation Forum, that will precede the ARFSD.

“For us this meeting is very important because not only will it allow us to showcase our country but it also gives us a great opportunity to ensure science and technology gets the visibility it should on the continent. Innovation is important for Africa’s development,” said Mr. Fanuel Tagwira, the Permanent Secretary of the Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology Development Ministry.

The ARFSD is an annual multi-stakeholder platform which brings together ministers, senior officials, experts and practitioners from UN member States, private sector, civil society, academia and UN organisations to advance an integrated implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the goals set out in Africa’s Agenda 2063.

The overall objective of the sixth session of the ARFSD is to conduct a regional follow-up and review of progress made, facilitate peer learning and advance transformative solutions and actions to accelerate implementation of the two agendas.

 

Caribbean Exports Development exports a Fashion Show to Kenya

By Brenda Zulu in Nairobi, Kenya

Africa Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Secretariat and the Caribbean Export Development in collaboration with the Government of Kenya and the Pacific Island Forum uniquely curated and showcased the talent of over 80 ACP designers from 20 countries in Nairobi, at the Kenyatta International Conference Center on 7th December 2019.

This Fashion Extravaganza was held under the high patronage of the Honorable Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados. 

The fashion show was visual amaze that presented a practical example of intra ACP and ACP-EU collaborations, showing how culture can unite our countries while securing a better future for the people.

Honorable Prime Minister and Queen Counsellor Mottley presently holds the portfolios of Minister of finance, Economic Affairs and Investment. Her career and life is a testimony to championing intra- ACP trade and developing.

 

The Creative and Cultural Industries (CCI) also termed “Orange economy” generate over a US2.250 trillion of revenue and 29,5 million jobs globally, according to the First Global Map of Cultural and Creative Industries in December 2015.

The high potential business and investment opportunities are a special focus directed to regional value chains and exports capacity development for the ACP regions and countries and notably the fashion and garment industry.

At a panel discussion Faraz Ali, Chairman, Fashion Council of Fiji said it was very important if the Pacific could maintain their culture.

He said that Fashion was not limited by boarders as it could easily be exported. He noted that in the Pacific they where not a cohesive group and that they did not speak to each other. 

“We don’t communicate. You will find that the Pacific is left out from Africa and Caribbean group,” said Ali. 

He said there was need to market together with others including Africans and Caribbean’s. He observed that he has seen a lot of Pacific fashion on the run ways but has never heard the source of the fabric being mentioned.

He added that there was need to step in and feel that the Pacific were part of the conversations seeing that fashion shows were the hearts of their industries.

Meanwhile, Escipion Oliveira, Deputy Executive Director, Caribbean Export Development Agency said they carry out numerous programmes based activities designed to enhance the competiveness of regional small and medium sized enterprises (SMSs), promote trade and development among the CARIFORUM States the French Caribbean Outermost Region (FORs) and the EU overseas countries and Territories (OCTs) in the Caribbean. Caribbean Export also facilities partnerships between CARICOM, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic through the implementation of Bi- National programs.

He outlined the program activities on export development to include access to finance, capacity building and the provision to develop their businesses specifically for export.

As for intellectual property and how it was managed the forum heard that there was need for capacity building to entrepreneurs.