michael gondwe : outline of zambia ’ s recent macroeconomic performance and projected outlook opening speech by dr michael gondwe, governor of the bank of zambia, at the 15th bank of zambia media seminar, siavonga, 1 may 2014. * * * mr chairman, distinguished colleagues from the media fraternity, senior director – monetary policy, senior director – supervisory policy, fellow bank of zambia officials, ladies and gentlemen. it ’ s my great pleasure and honour to be with you today at this important seminar for professional media practitioners. allow me first, on behalf of the bank of zambia, and indeed my own behalf, to begin by welcoming you to this very important event, being the 15th in the bank of zambia – media seminar series that we have been conducting for journalists from across the zambian media fraternity. distinguished colleagues, it is simply not possible to overemphasise the importance of the media to matters affecting national development. you are the window through which the world sees us all. your reporting conveys important information about the economy, as well as the business environment and financial performance of the country, industries, institutions, households and indeed individuals. this information becomes very useful to a wide range of users in making business decisions. therefore, as journalists, you bear a great responsibility of keeping the public as well informed as possible and it is imperative therefore, that you report factually and accurately. it is not for us to remind you that one of the attributes of being factual and accurate is to be able to verify information as much as possible. ladies and gentlemen, it is for this reason that the bank of zambia finds immense pride in organising this event, whose objectives are to interact with the media so as to : 1. share information on the role and functions as well as operations of the bank of zambia in the zambian economy ; 2. discuss recent developments in the zambian and global economy ; and 3. provide an outlook on future economic and financial developments. through this interaction, we also seek to clarify certain economic and financial terminologies that are frequently used in economic or business reporting. at this juncture, distinguished colleagues, allow me to outline the recent macroeconomic performance in zambia and its projected outlook. the zambian economy has recorded robust economic growth rates for over a decade now with gdp growth averaging at 6. 4 % in the last 10 years. this growth has been broad - based, extending beyond the mining sector to the agriculture, forestry and fisheries ; manufacturing ; construction ;

supervision ’ ( 1997 ), and the ‘ customer due diligence for banks ’ ( 2001 ). • third, the wolfsberg principles. the wolfberg principles came into force in 2000 and are an industry response to the threat of money laundering. they are an agreement among eleven major international private banks ( which account for at least a third of the world private banking funds ) to guide the conduct of international private banking. essentially, the principles seek to control money laundering by cutting across the multiplicity of jurisdictional issues and addressing the serious reputation damage they were suffering in the media because of money laundering. ladies and gentlemen, allow me now to discuss our local initiatives / responses to money laundering. admittedly, there has been little activity in the areas of prevention of money laundering in zambia, until quite recently. this exposed the country to the activities of money launderers because they always seek to operate in countries where there are lax controls. however, the major initiatives in the fight against money laundering, locally, have included : • enactment of the prohibition and prevention of money laundering act. the government of zambia responded to the increase in drug trafficking and money laundering by passing the prohibition and prevention of money laundering act in 2001. the act provides for the disclosure of information by supervisory authorities and of regulated institutions if suspected of money laundering activities. the act also provides for the forfeiture of property belonging to persons connected to money laundering offences as well as for the prosecution of persons connected to or charged with money laundering offences. the money laundering act places certain obligations on the bank of zambia as the supervisory authority. one of these is the issuance of regulations to commercial banks as and when necessary in order to prevent money laundering. • regulatory responses. the governor of the bank of zambia is a member of the anti - money laundering authority, whose main functions are to provide policy directives to the commissioner of the drug enforcement commission and to advise the minister of home affairs on measures that are required to prevent and detect money - laundering activities in zambia. • in order to minimise the likelihood of criminals or their organisations from taking control of or setting up their own banks, the bank of zambia as the licensing authority of banks and financial institutions, has put in place a rigorous licensing process, which ensures that only ‘ fit and proper ’ persons are allowed to own and manage financial institutions. • know your customer directive. even before the coming into effect of the prohibition and prevention of money laundering act, the bank of zambia, inline with the