Zambian exports have failed to fully penetrate the lucrative Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) market due to the high cost of production in Zambia, the Zambia Association of Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) has observed.
In an interview with ZANIS in Lusaka today, ZACCI chief executive officer Justin Chisulo said South African products were entering the DRC market more than Zambian products yet Zambia was nearer to that market than South Africa.
Mr Chisulo said the high cost of production in Zambia was hindering Zambian products
from entering both regional and the global export markets because they tended to be
uncompetitive as they turned to be more expensive.
He explained that if well exploited, significant foreign exchange earnings would be
generated from the DRC market alone.
Mr Chisulo called on Zambian exporters to exploit the DRC market despite the hardships they are facing in penetrating that market including other regional and global markets.
And Mr Chisulo said ZACCI was conducting a study on the fuel pricing system with
view to advising on possible remedial measures.
He said the high fuel prices was among the major factors behind the high cost of production in Zambia.
Recently some ZACCI members called on government to scrap the Energy Regulation
Board, ERB, in order to reduce the fuel pump price.
The ZACCI members noted that the ERB was also a cost as it raised funds for its operations through the fuel tax.
 ZANIS
The problem with you Chisulo, is you do not want to penetrate your own internal market within Zambia. Increae your market share of the members of your organisation’s in Zambia, then worry about the market outside. Why should South Africa be able to penetrate the entire African market? They are now in Nigeria. Refocus,your strategies and improve on the quality of your products for them to compete abroad.
Kayata , it depends on what products he is talking about , as far as I know DRC imports everything from farm produce(all sorts of food stuffs),oil, soaps, detergents,etc to packaging.It would have made sense to qualify which areas(goods and services) of production are not being competitive than just leaving it to sound like an open ended equation.RSA has been a greater exporter to that country time in memorial during Mobutu times when Zambian businessmen were sleeping under the one party rule and seriously participating in smuggling maize meal instead of engaging in formal trade which RSA was doing.Its great challenege for ZACCI to bring out specific areas that need attention and see how best the govt can chip in to make them competitive. Of course the Zambian goods have been expensive becuase of the high cost of raw materials, if we were serious DRC is one such big market we could have easily taken up than DRC relying on RSA in exchange with the precious minerals.
Chilumba, it is all zambian export products that it can export.You see the problem is RSA has companies whose aim is to compete,both locally and internationally. Their strategy has been to protect their internal industry. RSA have innovator’s and know how to penetrate a market,because they have to please shareholder’s. Expansion of the business. In Zambia, we are always waiting for the government to come to our rescue, and that is what has made us backwards. It is all about the concept of humanism and nationalism, it encourages laziness,because the neighbour will not be willing to go for work knowing that his neighbour will help him in times of need or on the rainy day.
What Chisulo needs to do is discuss with the government on how they can minimise costs.
ZAMBIAN NEEDS A PROTECTION INDUSTRY TO SUSTAIN THE LOCAL MARKET. WHAT HAPPENED TO SEMI PROCESSING INDUSTRIES AND GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES. FINISHING AND PACKAGING ARE SOME OF MARKETING TOOLS NEEDED TO SELL. E.G. TEXTILES, FOOD, TRANSPORT, ICT, AND SERVICES ETC.