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Zambia Daily Mail Partners with NamZim Newspapers

Windhoek – Zambia Daily Mail Limited, which publishes Zambia’s oldest national daily newspaper, the Zambian Daily Mail, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with NamZim Newspapers, for the sharing of editorial content, resources and improving on capacity building and skills development.

The agreement makes Zambia Daily Mail (ZDM) the first state-owned news corporation in the region to make formal ties with NamZim, a joint venture corporation between the government of Namibia through New Era Publications Corporation and the government of Zimbabwe through Zimbabwe Newspapers.

The agreement would allow NamZim’s newspaper, The Southern Times, to give Zambia sufficient news coverage. Speaking during the signing in Windhoek, Chairperson of the NamZim Board, Tarah Shaanika applauded the partnership saying it allow citizens to read more about other countries in the region, and would help to facilitate SADC integration and create business opportunities.

ZDM’s Managing Director, Nebat Mbewe said the MoU is part of their expansion drive. “This initiative can help achieve that objective. We want to learn how your experiences have been,” he said.

“This will help us to cut on cost. Often we have to bring our own reporters to the region,” he states, saying that with this partnership they can now liaise with the media houses to get the news for them.

Mbewe noted that the media plays an important role in SADC integration and it could not be left up to others to tell our stories.

“We see how we can help your presence on Zambian shelves. I hope this is the beginning of a long relationship,” he said. He said the modes of getting news through information communication technology were not as well spread in the SADC region and people still rely on hard copy.

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“We want to learn from you like an elder brother or sister on your experiences and how you analyse issues,” said Shaanika adding that he hoped to see more partnerships established between national newspapers from different countries.

“We want to see news about development taking place,” he said, adding that it was through newspapers like Southern Times that we are able to present news from our own perspective. “Zambia has been a strong and good neighbour to Zimbabwe and Namibia,” said Shaanika, reflecting on the liberation struggle and how Zambia played a role towards the independence of Namibia.

Shaanika said The Southern Times was a very well-known newspaper in the Southern African region, which is respected for its truthful reporting and professionalism.

The Zambia Daily Mail is an English daily broadsheet newspaper owned by the government of Zambia. Formerly knowns as the Central African Mail in the 1960s, before it was renamed the Zambian Mail and later the Zambian Daily Mail in 1970s.

It has a daily circulation of between 15 000 to 20 000 per day across Zambia.

The Southern Times has during the past ten years grown into a major driver of the Southern African Region’s economic and political integration agenda as well as providing a platform for pursuance of the Pan African agenda.

The weekly paper has a regional thrust that is aimed at driving towards the unity of SADC countries through sharing of information on the history, culture and social-economic matters of fellow SADC countries.

The publication is distributed across Southern Africa with weekly print run of between 3000-5000 copies in Namibian, 10 000 in South African, 3000 in Botswana, and 10 000 in Zimbabwe. For the past six years, The Southern Times has been the official publication covering the SADC Heads of State Summit, producing a daily bulleting of the event proceedings. (Reported by Magreth Nunuhe)