The Apex body of the private sector in Zambia, the Zambia Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) believe the reported development will trigger increased local and foreign investor confidence and positive sentiments in Zambia’s economic roadmap. We may see an actualisation and a reboot of a private sector driven economy.
The Government of Zambia through the Ministry of Finance and National Planning has updated the nation that they have reached an agreement on a comprehensive debt treatment with its Official Creditors under the G20 Common Framework, a significant step towards restoring Zambia’s long-term debt sustainability. Under the agreed terms, the Official Creditors will provide a debt treatment contingent on Zambia’s debt-carrying capacity at the end of the Fund-supported program.
From what the State has scored, we have growing confidence that the remaining steps will no doubt be addressed to the expectations of Government and the local investing stakeholders.
This will also trigger the right notes for increased investment and actualization of real sustainable industrialization.
In the wake of this positive development concerning the debt treatment, ZACCI calls upon the civil service and regulatory agencies, with a matter of urgency to implementation amendments or removal mechanisms of regulation or regulatory hurdles that are slowing an economic boom, investment in Research and Development (R&D) as well as rebooting Industrialization in Zambia. Multiple regulatory hurdles continue to slow down greenfield investment and slow recapitalisation of brownfield investments.
Regulators across all sectors are at the centre of ensuring private sector corporate actors, as well as SMEs and MSMEs actors to effectively actualise and implement individual or collective transformative investment pledges. Therein can be found some potential income accelerator opportunities and tens-of-thousands of entrepreneurs and secure jobs.
Chabuka J Kawesha
ZACCI Chairperson & President
Lusaka, Zambia
23rd June 2023
… ZACCI Secretariat …