Donors nod Zambia’s economic path

Mon, 03 Oct 2016 11:05:12 +0000

ZAMBIA’S cooperating partners have expressed confidence that Government is on the right path to economic recovery because the country has the potential to attract further international investment. Speaking during a meeting between Government and cooperating partners, Cooperating Partners Group (CPG) chairperson Bruce Lawson-McDowell said Zambia had the potential to attract further international investment, develop her economy rapidly and share proceeds of growth more equally among Zambian’s.

The sentiments were echoed by various cooperating partners during a recent meeting between the Government and Zambia’s foreign friends. Mr. McDowall, who is also head of the British Department for International Cooperation (DFID) in Zambia, said the partners were committed to addressing immediate fiscal and long term debt challenges through a credible economic recovery programme embedded in the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP). He said Zambia’s partners were already providing assistance to generate evidence of increase in the efficiency and effectiveness of Government expenditure, addressing poverty and increase Budget credibility.

“We need to work together to diversify the economy and, as cooperating partners, we stand ready to support continued focus on broad-based and long term growth which will lead to job creation,” said Mr. Lawson-McDowall. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Felix Mutati called for change of mindset collaboration in developing a home-grown economic recovery programme for Zambia if the country was to counter its challenges.

Mr. Mutati, who will be leading a Government delegation to the 2016 IMF/World Bank annual meetings in Washington DC, also appealed to the World Bank to streamline regulations governing access to committed resources to ensure that development programmes were not inordinately delayed. And World Bank country manager for Zambia Ina Ruthenberg has noted that Zambia had a portfolio of 16 active projects in agriculture, water, energy and extractive industries, social protection and labour, health, population and nutrition, environment and natural resources, and governance with a net commitment of US$802 million.