Government has underscored the importance of Science and Technology and Innovations as a tool for competitiveness and economic growth.
Mines, Energy and Water Development Minster, Christopher Yaluma has called for the need to align the country’s strategies on Science and Technology and Innovations to the changing global policy context.
Speaking on behalf of Vice President Guy Scott at the first ministerial meeting on Science and technology for COMESA states,in Lusaka today, Mr. Yaluma said there is need for the region to foster overall robust innovation friendly policy frameworks that should comprise a clear stable and well designed microeconomic framework.
Mr. Yaluma also emphasized the need for financing innovation process which will encourage the development and utilization of science and technology.
Speaking earlier, COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya said Science and technology offers multitudes of opportunities for development in areas of vital importance for developing countries if properly harnessed.
Mr. Ngwenya said it is time the region follows through the pronouncements with action plans to implement the decisions agreed upon for the realization of the common goal of improving the livelihood of people.
He has observed that the region tends to lacks access to technologies that can help in the transition towards a green economy.
Mr. Ngwenya said despite economic challenges, economic history provides a wide range of lessons on how latecomer economies can embark technological leapfrogging that can enable them to become important players in green innovations.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in collaboration with the development partners and Harvard Kennedy School has developed a programme aimed at expanding the capacity of member states to plan, design and implement the Council decisions of identifying science parks and industrial clusters.
QFM
More Gibberish
Aim for ICT evolution first then everything ambitiously pursued will fall in place within next 5 years. Information is the epicenter of national development from air, road to rail transpiration including maritime. You will see then manufacturing, military industrial complex, trade or commerce, Banking and finance to agriculture in big evolution. Try it you will vindicate us. Our country needs to move forward in the information divide first.
Technology is only critical if it makes our lives better. If our villagers can have safe, clean drinking water via clean water management systems, great. If our peasant farmers can afford grinding mills for their maize, sorgum, etc and local butcheries for slaughtering their animals for food, great. The Zambian government must move away from focusing on technology that has no relevance to the vast poor majority of our country.
not in Zambia please….
lets work on this one as africans its the only thing which make us look inferior & it is the coner stone of all developed countries but lets improve our universities and set up even one powerful technological institute.
Foolish government you cannot even adequately fund  the  two universities.
Simple technologies first. I have always stated that JETS always does bring out these. The other day I saw a JETS project by a grade 11 of Lusaka about toll gates. Very simple, easy to construct and useful. It can help traffic police to trap offending motorists and collection of road tax…etc. But ba Zambia will just damp those projects. We need an institution to follow up on these issues.