President Edgar Lungu has said that his administration will continue to invest heavily in key economic sectors of the country in order to have a diversified and inclusive economy.
The Head of State said this during the official opening of the National Economic Summit in Livingstone organized by the Economic Association of Zambia under the theme: “The future of the Economic Diplomacy – Supporting inclusive growth and sustainable development in Africa”.
President Lungu said that he believes that development initiatives, policies, strategies, tools and programmes such ad economic diplomacy, inclusive growth, and sustainable development should take center stage as Zambia strives for economic prosperity for the African continent.
The President highlighted some of the economic initiatives his government has embarked on in a pursuit of inclusive growth, sustainable development, and economic diplomacy, among them the energy projects such as wind, solar energy and hydropower which have the potential to generate about 6, 000 megawatts of electricity once fully completed.
The Head of State also said his administration is aware that infrastructure development is a vital component in encouraging country’s economic growth by enhancing efficiency in production, transportation and communication.
“This is why my government is investing massively in infrastructure development to spur accelerated sustainable development and inclusive growth. This is being implemented through the construction of new, and expansion of existing airports; rail; and road infrastructure so that Zambia is land linked to the Southern Africa, Development Community (SADC), and the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), and Africa as a whole,” he added.
Speaking at the same summit, visiting Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta observed the need for African countries to embrace economic diplomacy as a way of promoting trade and investment.
President Kenyatta said economic diplomacy has become a priority for trade and investment by most countries in improving trade and investment.
He added that there is need for African countries to respond to the issues of trade noting that 95 percent of world trade is transacted outside the African continent.
He noted that the cost of doing business in Africa is high which he said should be addressed.
He further added that exports from Africa encounter several barriers which may affect growth.
President Kenyatta further observed the need to improve market access for African goods, increase Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), making Africa a tourism destination as well as marketing the continent’s full potential.
The visiting Kenyan Head of State also emphasized the need for African countries to complement each other saying they are not in competition.
And in his official opening remarks, Economic Association of Zambia President Dr. Lubinda Haabazoka urged the government to continue investing in the energy sector as this is a pillar to economic development.
Dr. Haabazoka also commended the government for embarking on the implementation of the Seventh National Development Plan whose aim is to have an inclusive, resilient and diversified economy.
Former Tanzania President HE Dr. Jekaya Kikwete also attended the summit and earlier gave a presentation on Agenda 2063 – The Africa we want.
Developed countries are masters at using economic diplomacy to enhance their economic development, it’s about time Zambia identified what it can use to open markets for its products
2063 is way to far, people in the unemployment lines, retirees, street kids etc will not wait that long. Zambia needs to learns from countries like Singapore, South Korea, and the Emirates what they did to get what they did in such a short time. Expatriates and those who understand market economy like Guy Scott can help not the bunch of PF cadres like Habazoka.
the infrastructure in the country with inflated prices… try going to nakonde by road and see how the roads are between mkushi and the nakonde. cross over into tunduma and see the contrast with the other side in nakonde…
what rail network is he talking about..the kk airport is Chinese…
trucks seeking to cross into kasumbalesa are lined up all the way up to kitwe ..
talk is cheap.
the road between lsk and l/stone is a mess
go to kenya and see their highways,
For sure you muli ba Mukolwe. Ubufi were to you see trucks for Kasumbalesa border lining up to Kitwe. ?
@mukolwe
Bullsh1t!!!!! Can you compare those narrow and heavily congested roads in Kenya to ours? Dont watch too much of YouTube but rather visit those places.
Maybe they’re conjested because Nairobi is a vibrant economic hub .Can you really compare Lusaka and Nairobi in terms of air traffic,international companies and overall development? NOPE.
been there several times my friend. was driving on the highways only last month
congestion is only in Nairobi city itself, get outside the city and you’ll see. drive to different counties from Nairobi city itself.
the road network in Zambia is a joke compared to kenya
if you’re in the business of logistics then you can argue with me
if you’re not sit there and enjoy the great road network and speedy traffic that you have in Zambia
it’s one thing to be patriotic, and totally another to be obliviously stupid
If Presidential cheap talk could lead to national development, Zambia would have been the most developed country by now.
I said it immediately Lazy Lungu was elected that if this man has brains he could have sent head-hunters to get the best Zambian Economists and nominated them as Finance Minister but he went for Mutati for political reasons then went for another accountant Aunty Maggie…wasting more years due to his bad decisions.
What Foreign Investment are they talking about without addressing the security of investments in Zambia? Is Zambia not expropriating Vedanta’s 80% investment in KCM? How can GRZ nationalise KCM without paying Compensation to Vedanta? Zambia has publicly stated it doesn’t accept International Arbitration in the KCM Shareholders Dispute. So all Foreign Investors and Creditors in are at huge risk in Zambia. Instead of welcoming Investment in Zambia GRZ is busy chasing away and nationalising foreign Investments without paying Compensation. Any Intelligent Investor must think twice b4 investing in Zambia or else they will suffer the same fate as Vedanta and LapGreen. The writing is on the Wall.
“President Edgar Lungu has said that his administration will continue to invest heavily in key economic sectors of the country in order to have a diversified and inclusive economy”.
To help me understand what the president is talking about the key economic sectors; this is what I came up with,
1. Primary. extraction and production. agriculture.
2. secondary. manufacturing and processing. construction.
3. tertiary. service industry. healthcare. legal services. insurance and banking.
4. quaternary. intellectual activities. EDUCATION. research. government.
Please open Copperbelt University.
Lungu should’ve been holding an emergency economic summit 2yrs ago to revive the economy from its low 3% growth.This here is a band aid summit.
Just another excuse for Lazy to spend a weekend away from Ester…am sure he will stay there before he flies to Kaputa and other areas to campaign..
UPND cadres are a heap of disgruntled people. Their frustration stems from a failed African Project of breeding confusion in Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe and lately Nigeria. Obasanjo is an agent of the multinational financial group which supported opposition leaders (particularly Maimane, Odinga, HH and Chamisa). Such opposition parties do not see anything good in the Summit held in Livingstone – a platform that attracted the sitting and former Presidents to discuss the economic pathways to prosperity.
President Edgar Lungu has said that his administration will continue to invest heavily in key economic sectors of the country in order to have a diversified and inclusive economy.
Where is the money coming from ? With borrowed funds ? This is unsustainable something has to give.
As usual always good at talking but never good at implementing. Development in Zambia always ends in cheap talk from these politicians. The politicians never mean well for the country but for themselves only. They hinder HH a businessman by saying he can never rule well because he has never served in Government before but tell me how Trump is managing? Tell me also why Samuel was sent to annoint David a Shepard and not Jonathan who was a good person and king Saul’s son well vexed with knowledge to lead?. Our hate is what blinds us in making good choices and as long as we harbour this, no good decision can ever come out of hatered. Even if IMF was to hold a sumit in Zambia nothing good will come out of it because of the mindset of our leaders.
Development can only come when divisions are are broken. Lungu who claims to be a leader but has never embraced those in opposition but has always hindered the opposition savagely order to hide the wrong he has done which the opposition keep pointing at. Lungu can’t talk about inclusiveness when clearly he has lamentably failed at this. Mwanawasa’s government was inclusive because he knew how to work with the opposition without orchestrating planned defections like lungu does. His government thrived because of unity. Mwanawasa’s reign could have been hard because he had few MP’s in parliament but he never saw that as a hindrance, worked well with others and no wonder Sata had respect for him. Mwanawasa and lungu are both lawyers, who both came to be in power through rigging but the…
Continued….. The difference is mwanawasa led well and lungu has failed lamentably. mwanawasa abhorred corruption whereas lungu openly embraces it. Mwanawasa had respect for the general citizens but lungu openly mocks the citizens. What determines how good someone led is not how long they stayed in power but how well they led in a given timeframe. In Africa we have examples of leaders who stayed too long in power by using force but that length of time never made them good leaders hence their bad ending. A good leader always draws people near to get inspirations whereas lungu instills fear and discord in those who work with him.
With great power comes great responsibility but this never seems to be the case for lungu. Lungu needs self introspection. What he says and does do not correlate at all. He says one thing then does the other, plans one thing then does the other, then how can you meet your target like that. His government lacks ambition and passion to lead exceptionally for the sake of the people and country itself. Lungu reminds me of the catoon Robin Hood, he is a typical Prince John, squeez every penny out of people, persecute those that oppose him, drive a once thriving country down and this due to his self ego and his quest to be recognised by those who oppose of him due to his own low self esteem which comes in comparisons of him to a good past leader. Eventually Prince John ends up in prison.
Can you imagine the whole Katimamulilo bolder has no bin to put Rabbish