Deputy Governor Operations at the Bank I’d Zambia (BOZ) Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu has earned himself Minister of Finance job in Africa’s copper producer, this is in a series of changes made by the Head of State on 14 July. Dr. Ng’andu replaces Margaret Mwanakatwe who took over from Felix Mutati.
Dr. Ng’andu comes at a time the copper producer grapples with fading hopes of a successful IMF deal, rising debt, sovereign downgrades and deferrals in tax regime. Zambia credit assessment was lowered to CCC from B- by Fitch aligning to a Moody’s Caa2 with negative outlook from Caa1. Foreign exchange reserves have plummeted to levels of below 1.5 yards (in dollars) reflecting import cover of 1.5 months.
Dr. Bwalya Ng’andu is a Doctor of Philosophy in Economics candidate. He holds a Ph.D. in Applied Psychology from Cranfield University, UK and a M.Sc. in Ergonomics from The University of London as well as a BA in Psychology and Business from the University of Zambia. Dr. Ng’andu is a Zambian Rhodes Scholar.
Dr. Ng’andu will be sworn in as Zambia’s MinFin Minister at 09am on 15 July.
