PROVINCIAL INVESTMENT AND TOURISM EXPOS: A CATALYST OF THE PF MANIFESTO TOWARDS THE ATTAINMENT OF 7NDP AND VISION 2030

By Sunday Chilufya Chanda

With his eyes firmly  fixed on Vision 2030 to turn Zambia into a strong, dynamic and prosperous industrial Middle-income Nation By 2030, President Edgar Lungu at the helm of the Patriotic Front Government, is firmly on course to economic diversification, industrialisation and value addition, by opening up the entire nation to domestic and foreign direct Investment.

At the heart of the Patriotic Front Government’s development planning is the effort to undertake economic diversification programmes that ensure that the country moves away from being dependent on the extractive industry sector.

One innovative way this is being done is through the hosting of Provincial Investment Expositions (expos).

The Provincial Expos across the nation show case each province’s unique resources and opportunities as they focus on unlocking private sector finance and investment in various parts of our country; apart from boosting trade and investment between Zambia and other countries.

While foreign direct investment is welcome, the Patriotic Front Government of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu does not necessarily take the word “investor” as persons and entities from outside the country.

On the contrary, the PF Government believes in its local human capital and these events are also significantly designed to provide a platform for Zambian start-ups, entrepreneurs, and growth oriented companies; by providing an informational notice board for our very own home grown Zambian companies seeking to access regional and international markets as well as providing them with access to capital and advisory services.

The Investment and tourism expos therefore, convene relevant private equity funds mangers, development finance institutions, bankers, institutional investors, and project developers to review and transact on investment projects in the various Provinces.

They represent key sectors such as agriculture, aquaculture, tourism, energy and real estate among others.

The overall objective of these events is to raise awareness and help mobilise financial resources in Strategic Economic Sectors for sustainable development and inclusive growth in the various provinces and the Nation as a whole.

This is in line with the objectives of the Patriotic Front Manifesto to not only empower our youth, but to also continuously engage with the private sector in order to ensure their active participation in the economy.

Zambia is endowed with various natural resources and no two provinces in this regard are entirely the same.

Each province consequently presents unique prospects and possibilities for value addition.

The expos thus provide an opportunity for the respective provinces to ultimately benefit from localised value addition in agriculture, aquaculture, mining, energy, manufacturing, tourism and services, thereby accelerating localised industrialisation.

Rather than the country merely exporting raw materials (and later importing them in finished formats); localised industrialisation and concomitant value addition will trigger a positive domino effect as it will exponentially spur growth in value addition to resources and commodities that are distinct to each province.

These developments together with the Patriotic Front Government’s enhanced infrastructure development across the length and breadth of the country are poised to provide synergy for Zambia’s over overall economic growth; and the resultant job creation and socio-economic transformation will positively yield phenomenal social and economic results.

In line with the goal of the 7NDP, the Provincial Expos are a boon for sustained growth and social-economic transformation in various sectors including Agriculture and Tourism.

Apart from economic diversification, the key anticipated outcomes include job creation; poverty and vulnerability reduction; reduced developmental inequalities; enhanced human development and an enhanced governance environment for a diversified and inclusive economy.

So far, the total investment pledges by both local and foreign investors that are currently in the hundreds of millions of dollars; as well and other investments currently in progress in the various provinces that have so far held the expos, is a clear indication that their purpose is being accomplished.

Long-term success is a step by step venture.

Each and every Provincial Expo is a step towards our nation’s economic diversification.

The expositions are a masterstroke of the ingenuity of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and the PF Government.

Individually and severally, these expositions form an inexorable engine for economic prosperity that is propelling our nation into achieving the aspirations of the 7NDP and vision 2030.

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