Brannen and Sheehan-Connor (2012) argue that savings groups have the potential to facilitate access to financial services in remote areas where formal financial services may not exist. Moreover, members can borrow up to three times their savings if funds are available, while interest is generated on an individual’s total savings. Thus, encouraging members with a higher capacity to save more while also discouraging members from borrowing for unproductive causes. Annan et al. (2013) also suggest that informal savings and lending initiatives could potentially alleviate rural poverty through access to affordable credit and encourage saving among members. This assertion proves true among women in rural parts of the country, who may be reluctant to access loans from formal lending facilities that charge high-interest rates and often require collateral to access credit. Hence, savings groups offer an alternative source of capital and financing for women seeking to participate in economic ventures.

Notably, is that savings groups are one of the most inclusive financial initiatives and are relatively easy to run and engage in. According to a survey conducted by FSD (2018), the uptake of savings groups was not dependent upon one’s level of education in comparison to other financial services such as banking, insurance, pension funds, and capital markets. This means that anyone was capable of running and joining this program. Data from the same survey also indicates that more female respondents reported being part of savings groups and Chilimbas than men. This can be attributed to the fact that these initiatives are community-centric and gendered social norms entail that women are more inclined to community social interactions than men, making them more attractive for women to save with such programs. Furthermore, the survey concluded that Savings Groups and Chilimbas were the most inclusive financial services for Zambian women and more rural women were willing to take up these services as opposed to formal financial services that required some level of education, as well as a higher socio-economic status.

In addition, eligibility for a loan with savings groups is fairly relaxed. There is no documentation or collateral required to access a loan, other than being a trusted member of the group. Another attractive feature is that interest generated is shared among group members thus, acting as a ‘return on investment’ even for borrowers. Furthermore, there are no delays in processing of loans since they are obtained during meetings at each saving, while banks and other formal financial service providers on the other hand, often delay the process due to documentation and bureaucratic procedures in assessing one’s eligibility for a loan. Some of the requirements by banks and other formal financial service providers include; a copy of National Registration Card (NRC), latest payslip, latest utility bill or confirmation from employer, salary account bank statements for the last 3 months, employment contract and collateral in some cases. It must be noted that many of these women do not engage in formal employment and often do not have formal contracts with employers. Moreover, many of them engage in small-scale agriculture and roadside businesses, making it challenging to have a steady and predictable flow of income. In addition, evidence from the 2015 Finscope Survey indicated that while 93.5% of adults had access to an NRC, only 15.9% had access to a proof of residential address document. These findings suggest that formal banking requirements to access loans do not take into consideration the circumstances of rural households, thus they are excluded from these services on this basis.

A baseline survey conducted by Rural Finance Expansion Programme (2018) found that women were better savers and less likely to default on paying back loans than men, however, they had limited access to financial services in comparison to men. The survey also suggests that the rise of mobile money presents great potential for enhanced financial inclusion of women. In relating financial inclusion through digital money services, at least 74% of survey respondents reported to have owned a phone and 95% that reported to use mobile money services indicated that they were ‘comfortable’ to ‘very comfortable’ with the use of these services. The same study found that Zoona was more popular in the rural areas than Airtel and MTN mobile money services with 58% having used it to receive, while 38% used it to send money. However, less than 4% indicated that they used the service to store money. Hence the need to integrate these services into how savings groups conduct their business and encourage the use of these services for saving purposes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted industrial and economic output in countries and regions around the globe with each industry facing unique characteristics that present novel challenges in the context of the pandemic. Zambia’s mining industry which is considered an ancient and global industry with origins that date back to the foundations of civilization and has had a positive impact on economic development throughout history has not been spared.

Zambia’s mining industry in the context of COVID-19 is now faced with many significant challenges, many of which we’ve never seen. The prevailing conditions have made it difficult for mining companies to dial-up capacity while managing the risks of the pandemic in the wake of declining commodity prices triggered by sudden economic stoppages in several regions around the world. This drop in prices has affected operational margins for players in the industry with some being pushed into negative cash flows. While it can be argued that price volatility is familiar to the mining industry, the steps taken in managing it in each context pose a challenge for industry players that must be tackled by building consensus from all stakeholders.

PMRC, therefore, welcomes the Government’s decision to constitute a team of cabinet ministers, technical experts and trade unionists to look at the sustainability of the mining sector during and beyond COVID-19. While protection and sustainability of mining sector jobs is vital the team needs to ensure that the following measures are strongly considered;

• The immediate focus must be placed on the protection of health and safety of employees while striving to keep mines functioning as effectively as possible. This can be achieved through the deployment of crisis response units for critical decision making and to monitor the financial health of the mines to maintain cash flows in efforts to ensure continuity in operations and supply chains. Government is urged to mitigate risks to disruption by instituting early warning mechanisms and implementing measures to protect industry cash flows by deferring tax obligations, considering an extension of deadlines and suspension of tax measures that have potential to stall mining and supply chain operations.
• As easing of restrictions around the world is rolled out, Government is urged to prioritize and maintain the safety and well-being of employees in the face of possible COVID-19 risks. Timing of the sector’s recovery period is likely to vary across the globe and there’s need to plan how this will affect operations and business processes with the possibility of restricted travel. Government is urged to institute a fiscal regime that will respond to the prevailing times and attract greater investment to spur a quick rebound. Government is further urged to ensure minimal disruptions to the supply chain especially critical supplies and consumables that keep the mining sector functional.
• The effects of the pandemic may inflict changes that in some cases may be permanent (“The New Normal”). It is therefore important for industry players to re-think strategies around commodity demand and pricing, workspace layout, social distancing and response to future crises. Given the economic impacts of the crisis, mining sector players are urged to prioritise local suppliers while establishing a fair balance with international suppliers.

Like many industries with big challenges to future growth, change is being driven in mining by technology, innovations, better processes, social demands and even new opportunities. The unprecedented impact and scale of the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively affected many worlds over and disrupted livelihoods. The situation continues to be dynamic and calls for rapid solutions and effective monitoring. Government is urged to consider the immediate priorities and forecast the future of the mining industry and its evolution. This is one sure way to designing smart strategies to gain competitive advantage and staying ahead.

As we dust off our challenges with masks on and examine what the future holds for the mining industry we need to embrace the “new normal” and accelerate efforts to make operational employment in the mining sector safer and sustainable to support Zambia’s Economic Development Agenda.

Zambia has been pursuing economic diversification ever since the first republic and copper mining has been the major forex earner but with notable fluctuating trends over the years. As early as the First National Development Plan (1966-1970), both the need to diversify away from copper, as well as the emphasis of growth of other sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, were emphasized. Economic diversification is the process of shifting an economy away from a single or dominant revenue source towards multiple sources from a growing range of sectors and markets. Economic diversification is widely viewed as a positive objective in sustaining economic growth as it enables countries to be less vulnerable to adverse terms of shocks by stabilizing export revenues. According to the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP 2017-2021), the key sectors towards Economic Diversification in Zambia include; Agriculture, Tourism, Energy, ICT and Manufacturing sectors. One of the primary benefits of diversification is that a diversified economy creates a sustainable cycle of economic activity where sectors and businesses continually interlink and share benefits even as the economy grows. This also increases prospects for employment and growth and is in alignment with the multi-sectoral development approach being espoused in the 7NDP today.  Zambia has continued to pursue economic diversification with policy shift away from mining towards agriculture, manufacturing, and tourism among other sectors. The focus of this article is the manufacturing sector.

The Manufacturing sector in Zambia accounts for approximately 11% of the country’s GDP and has been growing at an average annual growth rate of three (3) percent in the last five years, based on figures available from the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA). Zambia’s manufacturing sector has considerable investment potential as the domestic economy is relatively well endowed with resource factors such as raw materials, required labour force, abundant water and rich minerals. The priority areas for investment in the sector include; food processing, textiles and clothing, mineral processing, chemical products, engineering, leather products, electrical goods, pharmaceutical products and packaging materials. (ZDA, 2018). In a quest to diversify the economy in the manufacturing sector, the Government has been working on setting up Multi Facility Economic Zones, Industrial Parks and other support infrastructure to accelerate industrialization. The actualized investment into the Multi Facility Economic Zones is estimated at US$ 3.3 billion, with more than 15,000 jobs created. In a bid to promote local content, the Government is implementing the National Local Content Strategy aimed at fostering business linkages between micro, small, medium and large enterprises.  The strategy is also meant to enhance local content along the value chain, which will benefit Zambians as millions of dollars are spent annually on goods and services, which are imported into the country. The Government through the Zambia Development Agency is also implementing the business linkage programme aimed at creating synergies in industry and market access for micro, small and medium enterprises.

The success of diversification depends on the mix, sequencing, and timing of investments, policy reforms and institution building, and on the consistency with the underlying assets and related comparative advantages of the country. Investments in skills, infrastructure, institutions and governance quality (ie. enhancing the transparency, accountability, and predictability of Government decision-making) increase the likelihood of success of diversification but are in turn affected by the extent of diversification. Providing the foundations for structural transformation and private sector-driven growth is an essential element in achieving a broader base of economic activities. Further, clear, transparent and predictable business regulations that provide a level playing field among investors (small and large, foreign and domestic) are essential for economic diversification.

Conclusion

Zambia has to make fundamental policy shifts if the country is to achieve the objectives of the Vision 2030. Achieving these objectives is essential to repositioning the Zambian economy onto growth and development, in a manner that makes the country less susceptible to both domestic and external shocks. This is seen as a critical area of focus midway before the expiry of the Vision 2030. The Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP) provides a clear roadmap of what needs to be done to diversify our country’s economy, going forward there is dire need for the mobilization of resources that will finance the various strategies and policies as outlined within the 7NDP towards the realization of economic diversification.

Globally, women continue to face significant cultural, institutional, and structural barriers to meaningful economic participation which include;

1. Lack of child care- Absence of good child care options and decent maternity leave.

Various studies have shown that the lack of childcare services is a major barrier for working women in developing countries. In the absence of affordable childcare facilities, working women have no option but to alter the amount and type of market work to engage in so that they can be able to balance it with household responsibilities. Women’s ability to afford childcare services is also dependant on the number of children that they may have. As the number of dependent children increases, the cost of childcare becomes higher, which may result in women dropping out of the labour force to take care of their young.

The lack of childcare services is less onerous in countries where extended families predominate. In many African and South Asian economies, children are not a major barrier to the female labour market participation, and childbearing does not reduce \the working life of females relative to males. However, the physical demands of childbearing and childcare make it harder for women and girls to seek education, training, and employment away from home which hinders their economic participation and opportunity.

2. Low investment in women’s education and health

Education

Not having a school within easy reach of home is an important barrier to girls’ enrolment. Lack of childcare not only affects women but girls as well as most often girls take up the responsibility of taking care of their younger siblings. Lack of child care facilitates in such a case would result in girls dropping out of school to take care of their younger ones. Equally societal norms that require women and girls to take on the responsibility of most household chores hinder girls from acquiring an education. Lastly in developing countries which have high poverty levels especially in rural areas tend to have high dropout rates due to the cost of education which may not be affordable for certain household.

Health services

A significant barrier to better health for women is the lack of access to family planning services, to help plan for the number and timing of pregnancies. The various aspects related to maternity impose a substantial burden on women’s time. And this is of course a biological burden uniquely borne by women. Moreover, maternity is not only a burden in terms of time. It is also risky and often imposes on women a substantial burden in terms of health. Tzvertkova, 2017

Since the start of the global HIV epidemic, women in many regions have been living with HIV and AIDS-related illnesses remain the leading cause of death for women aged between 15 and 49. HIV disproportionately affects women and girls because of their unequal cultural, social, and economic status in society. Intimate partner violence, inequitable laws, and harmful traditional practices reinforce unequal power dynamics between men and women, with young women particularly disadvantaged. HIV is not only driven by gender inequality, but it also entrenches gender inequality, leaving women more vulnerable to its impact. Global information and education on HIV and AIDS, 2019

3. Lack of access to credit

Lack of access to credit both formal and informal is another major barrier, often restricting women’s ability to smoothen consumption over time and undertake productive activities. The Global Findex, a comprehensive database measuring how people save, borrow, and manage risk in 148 countries, reveals that women are less likely than men to have formal bank accounts. In developing economies women are 20 percent less likely than men to have an account at a formal financial institution and 17 percent less likely to have borrowed formally in the past year. Even if they can gain access to a loan, women often lack access to other financial services, such as savings, digital payment methods, and insurance. Restrictions on opening a bank account, such as requirements for a male family member’s permission, restrict women’s access to accounts. Lack of financial education can also limit women from gaining access to and benefiting from financial services (Isaac, 2014).

Property that is acceptable as collateral, especially land, in some cultures is usually in men’s names which may be unacceptable by formal financial institutions. Given the heavy household responsibilities such as childcare, taking care of the sick and elderly among others, restrict women’s working hours and mobility in ways that affect their economic participation. Women’s businesses thus tend to be smaller-and grow slower-than men’s. They are also more likely to be home-based and to be in sectors that are technologically unsophisticated and overcrowded to the point of market saturation. These business characteristics mean that women entrepreneurs are perceived as poor credit risks hence may not be awarded loans from lending institutions.

4. Legal and regulatory barriers

Legal and regulatory barriers prevent women in some countries from fully participating in formal labour markets. The World Bank’s 2016 report on Women, Business, and the Law offer a stark picture of the ways in which laws and policies continue to undermine women’s economic productivity. Of the 173 economies surveyed, 90 percent have at least one regulation on the books that impede women’s economic opportunities. Gender-based job restrictions remain common: about 100 countries impose limitations on the jobs that women can hold. In thirty economies, women face a constellation of barriers, with ten or more laws inhibiting women’s economic participation on the books, and in eighteen countries, husbands or male guardians can legally prevent women from working altogether. These obstacles have a multidimensional effect of women’s opportunities: lower levels of gender equality in national laws are associated with fewer girls attending secondary school, fewer women in the formal workforce or running businesses, and a wider gender wage gap. (Vogelstein, Tackling Barriers to Women’s Economic Participation, 2016)

 

    5. Societal perceptions

In almost all societies, women are perceived as primary caretakers/ homemakers, while men take on the role of providers. Women frequently have to withdraw from the labour market because of the demands of marriage and children. Women are therefore more likely to choose jobs that allow them greater flexibility in hours worked, which often results in a drop in earnings. Women also lag behind men in the accumulation of human capital as a result of discontinuity in employment which may be one of the leading factors of low participation rates as well as poor advancement in careers.

Socialization plays a critical role in the upbringing of children. From a young age, females are expected to play a motherly role as well as that of a caregiver. In most societies, girls aspire to marriage as opposed to having a career. What is deemed as being socially acceptable in most cultures is for women to get married and to start a family as opposed to career advancement. Most cultures respect married women with children more than their spinster counterparts hence forcing women to aspire more to marriage than advancing their careers.

    6. Career and family planning

The age at which many women begin to think about starting a family coincides with one of the most productive periods of one’s career. Given women’s biological clocks, most tend to start a family as oppose to advancing in their careers.

Women constitute a heterogeneous group with different characteristics and unique qualities. Within groups of women it is important to be cautious of their positionalities and not assume homogeneity of the group (Akerkar, 2001). In society, various factors tend to converge to hinder women from participating in political processes such as policy formulation. These socio-economic factors include; levels of education, physical ability, age, location, race, culture, religion, sexual orientation and economic class. These factors cannot be considered in isolation as they are intersectional in nature. For instance, a middle-aged, middle-class woman with higher levels of education, living in a low-density urban area is more likely to participate in a policy formulation exercise in comparison to a middle-aged, working-class woman with lower levels of education residing in a high-density informal urban setting and facing some type of physical disability. Likewise, a woman who is a peasant farmer living in a rural area without basic education is less likely to assume she could influence policy. The individual characteristics and positionalities of the women in the contexts highlighted shape their perspectives differently. Thus, impacting their participation or lack of.  Policymakers need to take into consideration how these factors influence ones’ participation in policy formulation and find ways to reduce these barriers. Assuming that women have the same needs or face the same challenges could lead to poor participation levels among them and also under-plays the power and influence that some women wield over others.

Moreover, there are multiple factors that could hinder different women from participating in the policy-making discourse. These barriers could be structural in nature or agency barriers (William, 1992). Broadly, structural barriers are those that are embedded within systems or processes that may hinder an individual from exercising their free will or participating in certain tasks. Factors such as; lack of access to education or civic knowledge may prevent an individual from making informed decisions or, the systematic discrimination of women from partaking in socio-political debate based on their gender. Such barriers often entail political interventions such as law reforms or policy actions to facilitate the inclusion of marginalized women. While on the other hand, agency barriers are issues that an individual may experience at a personal level that limits their ability to exercise free will. For instance, the lack of confidence or willingness to participate in an activity are limitations to ones’ agency. These may be resolved through easier interventions such as capacity building, improving the civic knowledge of citizens or raising awareness on the importance of partaking in political processes.However, these barriers may not resonate with women in the same way since what may be relevant to some may not apply to others. Domingo et al. (2015) argue that, contextualizing the various factors could assist in resolving some constraints to an extent but may not provide a solution to all barriers. Firstly, women’s individual capabilities and resources could influence one’s participation. Similarly, socio-political, economic and cultural issues largely shape women’s experiences. As such, these experiences may have a push and pull effect. For instance, if one is more informed or has a certain level of education they are more likely to take an interest in political issues whether it affects them as an individual or as a collective. Conversely, women with poor civic knowledge may opt to shy away from participating in national issues.

Economic class also tends to pose a barrier for women to actively participate in policy issues thus, increasing their vulnerability and further undermining their interests. Enhancing women’s economic potential could accord them more social power and influence beyond the household and community level, further encouraging them to take an interest in national issues. Another barrier is culture and religion. Generally, women are socialized not to challenge the authority of men. Promoting a paradigm shift in society that appreciates and values women’s contributions could not only encourage women to participate but it may also lead to a more gender-inclusive and responsive policy system across all sectors. Thus, challenging various structural issues such as religious values, societal norms and culture is imperative in addressing some barriers that prevent women from exercising their agency.

ENABLERS OF WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION

Generally, women tend to feel more confident when they are in large numbers. Converging with other women that share similar interests may not only boost their confidence but it could also positively influence other women to participate in policy formulation. This could also accord them a safe space to consult, share knowledge and experiences with other women and increase their social power.

Similarly, raising civic and technical knowledge of women as well as the general education and access to information on political issues could contribute to the confidence needed to articulate and challenge policy discourse as well as actively participate. It could also raise their credibility, voice and influence thus giving them more status in society. Interventions such as facilitating trainings, mentoring and capacity building workshops targeted at women could help build their self-esteem, public speaking skills and self-awareness. Furthermore, the media plays a major role in how women are perceived. They act as agents of change but could also be potentially harmful to women’s representation in society. For instance, the media can perpetuate negative stereotypes about women or broadcast images that demean women’s character and strengths. Thus, improving how the media portrays women could influence how society responds to them and increase their confidence as active agents of development.

Additionally, addressing the intersectional issues that act as barriers for the participation of women is vital. For instance, educating women and capacitating them to train others on the importance of their participation could yield positive results. Similarly, engaging in strategic partnerships with various institutions that promote the empowerment of women could assist in engaging more grassroots women at community level. Moreover, strengthening partnerships with men as agents of change and dismantling gender stereotypes could influence change in how both genders perceive the participation of women. NGOs and CSOs are ideal strategic partners that aim at giving women a voice and often offer solidarity and a platform for women to express their needs and concerns on important national and personal issues affecting them. They also play a critical advocacy role in advancing the status of women. They act as important enablers of women’s inclusion and empowerment across various sectors of society.