President Levy Mwanawasa has implored Djibouti to share her experiences gained from operating economic free Zones, which Zambia is in the process of establishing.
Mr. Mwanawasa said Djibouti has been pioneering the implementation of economic
zones in Africa as a way of attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
He said Zambia is also in the process of setting up economic and commercial free
zones with the help of co-operating partners.
He added that Zambia is in the process of transforming her economy from that which
was heavily dependent on mining to one that will be anchored on agriculture, tourism
and manufacturing.
Mr Mwanawasa said the agricultural revolution is happening at a time when the mining
industry is also on the upswing, both in terms of new mines opening up and expansion
of existing ones.
The President added that Zambia’s political and economic environment is conducive
for investment by foreign nationals who enjoy extra incentives .
He has since invited Djibouti investors to come and invest in all productive sectors
of the economy.
President Mwanawasa was speaking when he held Official talks at State House with
visiting Djibouti President Ismael OMAR Guelleh , who is in the country for a four
day state visit.
Mr. Mwanawasa commended Djibouti for having achieved macro economic stability adding
that President Guelleh has managed to maintain a manageable external debt profile,
a challenge that has hindered economic and social development of most developing
countries.
Mr. Mwanawasa called for the strengthening of bilateral relations through exploring
advantages that the two countries accrue from their membership in regional groupings
such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
He said Djibouti can use its membership to export products to the market in the
region via the TAZARA railway link from the Dar-es- Salaam sea port in Tanzania to
inland port Mpulungu on Lake Tanganyika which offers a cheaper and shorter route to
markets in Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
He said Zambia could also benefit from the facilities of Djibouti port to transport
goods to markets of countries in the horn of Africa such as Ethiopia, Eritrea and
Sudan.
He has also implored Djibouti to ratify the protocol on policy and regulatory
framework for the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) Information
Communication Technology (ICT) broad based infrastructure for Eastern and Southern
Africa (ESA0 which Zambia has ratified.
He said as members of Comesa and AU, ratifying of the protocol by the two countries
would ensure harmonisation of policies, legal and regulatory disparities and improve
ICT and other communication capacities between two countries.
And Mr. Guelleh commended Zambia for having achieved economic growth, prosperity
and promoting good governance.
He said his country was keen to foster development cooperation economically which
would benefit the private sector that would want to invest in Zambia’s wealth in
mining and other sectors.
Mr Guelleh revealed that his country is willing to render various facilities to
Zambia and set up a railway that would Link Djibouti to Zambia up to Cape Town.
He however urged the African countries to work together so that they become self
sufficient  to enable them rely on their resources.
He observed that it was through co-operation that the continent’s economy would
improve that will lead to improved conditions of its people.
Meanwhile President Mwanawasa has expressed happiness at Sudan’s willingness
co-operate in resolving the conflict in that country.
He said Sudan has agreed to allow the Africa Union and United Nations to
reinforce the peace efforts of the AU force that has on the ground trying to
monitor the situation in the Darfur region .
He said Zambia has a military presence under the AU peace keeping mission in the
Sudan through which she has encountered some difficulties similar to those  faced
by peace keeping force in Darfur.
Earlier the two heads of state held one to one talks before holding official talks.
President: Ismael Omar Guelleh
Mr Guelleh, known in Djibouti by his initials, IOG, won a second term in one-man presidential elections in April 2005. The opposition did not field a candidate.
His campaign included promises to tackle poverty and reduce Djibouti’s dependence on food imports. He said he would step down at the end of his second term, in keeping with the constitution.
Ismael Omar Guelleh succeeded his uncle and Djibouti’s first president, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, in April 1999 at the age of 52. He was elected in a multi-party ballot which was not contested by Mr Aptidon.
Mr Guelleh supports Djibouti’s traditionally strong ties with France and has tried to reconcile the different factions in neighbouring Somalia.
The country’s first president, Hassan Gouled Aptidon, installed an authoritarian one-party state dominated by his own Issa community. Afar resentment erupted into a civil war in the early 1990s, and though Mr Gouled, under French pressure, introduced a limited multi-party system in 1992, the rebels from the Afar party, the Front for the Restoration of Unity and Democracy (Frud), were excluded.
Thus, Mr Gouled’s Popular Rally for Progress party won every seat and the war went on. It ended in 1994 with a power-sharing deal which brought the main faction of Frud into government. A splinter, radical faction continued to fight until 2000, when it too signed a peace deal with the government of Gouled’s successor, Ismael Omar Guelleh.
Are this counties to work with.Bushilu bakate ka wesu.
We seem to be proud with what others have & not what we have, even though we have the ability to do so. As a kid, I was always told, jealousy breeds evil thoughts such as thieving!! We hope we won’t just be learning about how to keep one dynasty in state house!
Bane Kanyata. What is the position on the Kokola Chililabobwe issue. We were told the report will out soon by the team leader Dr Sakala.To date nothing has come out.
U.S. building partnership with Africa, Rice says
ACCRA (Reuters) – The United States is building a partnership with Africa to pull the continent out of poverty, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday as she lent her support to moves to boost U.S.-African trade.
Rice, speaking by video link to a forum in Ghana, said Washington’s decision to extend until 2015 an initiative for more open commerce with Africa signaled “America’s enduring and bipartisan support for Africa’s trade and development efforts”.
The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) introduced in 2000 allows nearly 40 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to export some goods free of duties and quotas into the United States.
“We are building a partnership to support poverty reduction and good governance,” Rice told the Accra conference, which looked at ways to broaden and improve the AGOA initiative.
She spoke by video link after cancelling a planned trip to Ghana in favor of discussions in Washington on the Middle East.
Last year, AGOA imports from Africa to the United States climbed to $44.2 billion from $38.1 billion in 2005.
But oil products, which generate less jobs than other manufacturing activities, accounted for more than 90 percent of this total. Washington says it is working to increase the non-oil component.
“This partnership is growing,” Rice said, pointing to $2 billion of U.S. aid committed to African countries under the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which gives development assistance to countries that practice good governance.
U.S. officials say AGOA is helping African states climb out of poverty by offering trade, not handouts — a key demand of anti-poverty activists. The officials say $1 billion has been spent under the AGOA initiative since 2000 on boosting the exporting capacity of African countries.
Liberia and Mauritania have recently joined the list of countries eligible to export to America under AGOA.
In a new move to promote African farm exports, seven African agricultural experts will study in American universities in the coming year, with more to follow, Rice said in her address.
PLEA FOR MORE TIME
Some analysts say the African continent’s exporters have a long way to go before they can hope to compete successfully in the world’s largest consumer market.
Poor infrastructure, unreliable power supply, fierce competition with China and a lack of experience in Western export markets are among the obstacles.
Ghanaian President John Kufuor says African nations need more time to benefit from the opportunities offered by AGOA.
“I will therefore appeal first to the U.S. government to extend the time span of AGOA to 20 years,” he said on Wednesday.
Development activists say subsidies paid to U.S. agricultural producers — especially in the cotton sector — will keep African farmers poor even if AGOA is extended.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said on Wednesday that although Washington was committed to eliminating farm export subsidies and to cutting trade distorting domestic subsidies, she believed market access was also key to achieving success in faltering global trade talks.
“It is absolutely fundamentally important for African countries to gain market access … not just to markets of developed countries but also to the markets of rapidly emerging developing countries, Brazil, India, China,” she told reporters.