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Begin New Search Topic Economic Growth Author Caesar Cheelo

1. A Review of Pillar I & II of Zambia’s Economic Stabilisation and Growth Programme 2017-2019

Author:
Florence Banda-Muleya, Shebo Nalishebo, Mbewe Kalikeka, Nakubyana Mungomba, Ignatius Masilokwa, and Caesar Cheelo
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR)
Abstract:
The economic crisis of 2015 destabilised Zambia’s economic performance. The depreciation of the Kwacha and its pass-through effects led to inflation of as high as 22% and growth, at 2.9%, was far below the 5% target. The overall Budget deviation was 15% of Parliamentary appropriations in 2015, disrupting planned activities and attainment of set macroeconomic objectives. There were huge variations between what the consequent national Budgets committed to do and what they actually did. To fix this and nudge the country back towards high sustained economic growth, the Economic Stabilisation and Growth Programme (ESGP) was crafted in 2017. The five-pillar plan aimed to ensure prudent fiscal management by providing a system of accountability and a standard against which results could be measured, among other things. The aim of this paper is to review the ESGP, particularly, its performance in 2018. The paper sets out to understand how well Zambia faired in implementing the ESGP as well as to highlight the broader fiscal trends recently. It ultimately seeks to make recommendations about how Zambia can revive its path to economic stability and growth. The paper focuses tightly on the first two pillars of the ESGP, i.e. (i) restoring budget credibility; and (ii) enhancing domestic resource mobilisation and refocusing public expenditure. The remaining three pillars are slated to be reviewed in the second half of 2019.
Topic:
Budget, Finance, Economic Growth, and Economic Stability
Political Geography:
Africa and Zambia

2. The costs and pricing of tourism in Zambia: The case of Livingstone

Author:
Bernard Banda and Caesar Cheelo
Publication Date:
11-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR)
Abstract:
Tourism is potentially one of Zambia’s best prospects for economic diversification and growth. The tourism sector has the potential to play an increasingly important role in stimulating economic growth by contributing to job creation, foreign exchange earnings, entrepreneurial development, infrastructural development, improvements to rural areas and communities, and more. There are questions, however, over the effectiveness of public sector policy and strategic interventions in fostering the realisation of the potential of tourism. In this regard, there are two opposing views of the realities of Zambia’s tourism industry. The operators argue that the business environment is exceptionally difficult in terms of both the odious costs of doing business and the variability of regulations in the industry. In sum, they say, it is a struggle to generate decent profits. Their critics, however, say that such claims are unfounded. They believe that the operators have been deliberately creating information asymmetries, causing immense loss of government revenue and benefitting from considerably higher prices for tourism service packages than do their competitors in the region. It is possible that both arguments contain some truth. Until we gain a better understanding of the cost and price structures and their differences with regional competitors, the mistrust between the government and the private sector will persist. This study seeks to make a modest contribution to informing tourism policy and strategies by taking a disaggregated look at the cost and price structures of tourism service operations in one of Zambia’s key tourism destinations and comparing them with the structures in a proximate competitor region. By benchmarking tourism services in Livingstone against those in Victoria Falls town (on the other side of the Zimbabwean border), it captures detailed data on prices, inputs (labour, main service ingredients), food and beverages, overheads and other establishment performance indicators. The services considered include: accommodation (hotels and lodges); food and beverages (restaurants, diners, pubs/bars, cafes, etc); adventure tourism (water rafting, water cruises, micro flights); and wildlife safaris (nature walks, game drives, safaris).
Topic:
Development, Tourism, and Economic Growth
Political Geography:
Africa and Zambia