By KENNEDY MUPESENI –
ZAMBIA’s hosting of the Under 20 African Cup of Nation (AFCON) tournament has had no immediate bearing on the country’s exchange rate, financial analyst Maambo Hamaundu has observed.
Mr Hamaundu said the public had been expectant that the hosting of a gathering of such magnitude which ended yesterday would trigger more dollar inflows which could lead to Kwacha appreciation.
For the three-week period of the tournament, the local currency has been trading in the range K9.50 to K9.70 against the United States Dollar.
He said in an interview at the weekend that the dollar inflows were too minimal to trigger Kwacha appreciation.
“The impact is very small, yes there is a dollar inflow here but it is not enough to change the Kwacha outlook,” Mr Hamaundu said.
Mr Hamaundu also said the stadia were mostly filled by local people because few foreign nationals had come into the country making it difficult to generate more dollars.
