Norwegian Ambassador to Zambia Arve Ofstad has underscored the need for Zambians to work hard and develop their own country instead of depending on donor aid.Mr. Ofstad said Norwegians were convinced that countries such as Zambia should develop by its own efforts and not depending on donor aid.
He said the most important factor that will make the Zambian economy grow was creativity, skills, private business and hard work by the citizens.
He was speaking in Lusaka today during the SOS Children’s Village seventh graduation ceremony.
Ambassador Ofstad has since urged all the graduates to utilise their newly acquired skills profitably or deploy themselves as individuals and groups to start their own businesses.
He said the Norwegian government was happy to contribute to the training programmes which he said would greatly help in improving the economy of the country.
[pullquote]the most important factor that will make the Zambian economy grow was creativity, skills, private business and hard work by the citizens[/pullquote]
Mr. Ofsad said he was proud to be associated with SOS Children’s Village whose core business was to improve the lives of disadvantaged children across the globe.
Speaking earlier, SOS Children’s Village national director Bwalya Melu said the institution was glad to train a large number of people in various skills.
Mr. Melu said the 142 students, who underwent skills training for a period of one year in 2012, managed to pass national examination set by Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship Training Authority (TEVETA).
He said the graduates have gained skills and knowledge which they were ready to utilise as competent entrepreneurs in their own right.
Mr. Melu said graduating students have been trained in carpentry and joinery, power electrical, food production and tailoring.
He said in view of the changing and ever demanding job market, SOS collaborated with Junior Achievement Zambia (JA) in empowering the youths with entrepreneurship skills.
He said the idea was to make the graduates responsive and relevant to the demands of society.
Yes we can! This is the best piece of advice given to Zambians today! We are intelligent enough to develop our country.Lets stop arresting intellectuals who have a heart for the country and whose only crime was to try to develop the nation.We can do it!
awe chachine. A nation that does not dream,can not innovate. a nation that doesnt innovate can not develop new technologies later on grow its economy. a nation that cant grow its economy can not create jobs.
I guess it starts with a dream. and through that dream,we can change the way we teach our children. we can make them more creative and innovative. our education is not tailored to the Zambian needs. we just adopt other peoples concepts of what education is and from there,take on their curricula contents etc. A real education teaches or shows you how to appreciate and discover yourself. A real education helps to show you who you really are.
Prof.Clive Chirwa is corrupt and did not listen to Prof. Sasa and group and its good they have re-arrested him and he should pay for his sins.
F***ck Oftad, why is Norway in Zambia, is it not for those community projects, is it Norway employing 1500 workers at KCM? Does he think Sata’s suits are from donor money?
We have hard working people like GBM, HH, Kavindele, are they rich because of Norwagian money? This why Sata started chancing people like that Ambassador.
You are right. Zambia would have been better than where we are. Its all because of corruption and theft by successive governments. In Zambia htere is money, but crookedness, theft, criminality, tribalism, corruption, nepotism, bribery, etc is a problem.
@nostradamus: You right GBM,HH might b well to do and yes, they might have done it without the Norwegians, but what percentage are the people you mentioned to the population of zambia. We are trying to look at a bigger picture here rather than a few individuals. How many universities or schools or research institutions or production companies have these entities made for zambia? How many people are employed in these institutions or companies? how much are their companies or their institution contributing to the nations GDP? So i guess this is what we are looking at, a much more wholistic approach where not only a few prosper but many. where the dream to build our country is not just left to a few but to many, the equivalent of the much talked about american dream, THE ZAMBIAN dream.
@kolwe 1.5
Very mature and balanced analysis. It is actually true that if we worked hard as Zambians and properly utilize our natural resources we would not need donor aid. The problem is that we have had so many monkeys in the maize field (this does not include your alias, my friend. I use the term figuratively). These monkeys ensure that they deplete these resources for their benefit, and their benefit only! What we need is a leadership that is patriotic and dedicated to the needs of society in general. I REALLY MISS THE MWANAWASA-MAGANDE COMBINATION! Our currency now would have been K2 to $1.
when did we as Zambians realize that only us can develop our country? did we need a foreigner to tell us that?
The fact is there are very few hard working and innovative Zambians, most of hem want quick and easy money to enjoy a high profile life style.
Look at the type and quality of national projects we do for ourselves, do they wow us? NO!! its like we are doing someone else a favour.
Even here how many bloggers comment on matters of innovation, economy? very few, but politics you get hundreds of comments….it says something about us.
Maybe now that it has come from a foreigner, it will stimulate change in us because Zambians believe that anything foreign and especially if said by white person is good for them…… shame!!
this should be the aim of everybody i don’t know any country which has been developed by donations without creativity
You are right ambassador Arve Ofstad . Zambia would have been better than where we are. Its all because of corruption and theft by successive governments. In Zambia there is money, but crookedness, theft, criminality, tribalism, corruption, nepotism, bribery, etc is a problem.
Ubupupu mu Zed too much.
The world need beggars like Zambia! Please!!!
This is a wake up call to Zambia. The dependency syndrome has to come to an end. I partly blame colonial masters for introducing Zambia and Africa as a whole to an oppressive economic system which has made the later dependent on foreign aid and donations. Africa had an independent economic system which was sustainable before it was invaded by economic vampires!! We are unfortunately still paying the price today. There is need to break away from this oppressive economic system and kick start our economy on our own.
Zambia develop – with Ukwa at the helm? Kikikikihahaha! Am on the floor of the office!
Very,very true!!
Actually Zambians know this because has far as history is concerned no country has ever developed by using financial aid. No matter how much aid we receive in the country, it can never help us development. One step forward is stop exporting raw material such as cobalt, Maize, cotton and tobacco. Let us have investors that are willing to invest in industries that will export complete products unlike what is happening today. This way we will also be creating employment for the masses while returning higher revenue from finished products. We must start producing and manufacturing our own products!
I don’t agree with you on this point.Here is the reason:
The Marshallplan developed the West Europe after the 2nd World War. The only difference is that the money was used to invest in private enterprise. This, coupled with good governance brought economic growth which the USA also benefited through mutual trade.
I doubt we will ever live to see your advice yield any fruits, some human beings take pride in begging!
Good piece of news and timely warning to those suffering in diaspora and busy commenting LT.
What makes Zambia interesting is that everyone somehow seems to want to have the cake and eat it. We think that political promises must fit into a political lifetime (2 terms) of a mandate; we think that we must make the money and own all the mansions within one lifetime (read: children are spoiled rotten and cannot continue the legacy); we feel we should be managing director at any cost – even if it means pulling strings (read: we are usually vision-less for the mandate we claim);
In short, we need a step-by-step generational progression so that we build incrementally on our gains. We have enough of what it takes to do this, ladies and gentlemen! YES WE CAN!
creativity true to the point, we have so many professors who just hold papers yet do nothing to better our nation, we have clever people in Zambia who only want to steal from the poor like the few past govts, all what they knew is to sell what Kaunda built we should change our mind set if we will develop
Wonderful piece of advice. Only if chimbwi no plan could listen. HH can develop this country. Just look the way he has developed himself.
Well, I am of the view that we either get AID and use it to our advantage to catapult ourselves to development with infrastructure, R&D, manufacturing, agric, tourism, etc. OR we completely take the hard road and say to hell with AID and try to do it own our own. This will take a revolutionary leader and a patient electorate. We will have to review or trade policies, etc so that we work on growing our local industries as much as possible. I would personally rather have a country with fewer choice of local finished goods in retail shops but with a well paid workforce who can afford them and manage to have basic services in their homes. A country whose GDP as well as Per Capital increasing to $5,000 per household as opposed to having all these these finished foreign goods that we cannot affd
A leader like the late Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso. What a pity his revolutionary leadership was cut shot. If Patrice Lumumba was alive I don’t D.R.C would be in it’s present state. The truth is western and powerful nations do not want to see an independent African state. The truth is that a developed Africa is a threat to the status quo.
Good advice for the wrong minds!
See what they are doing to Chirwa!
These people are not united.
They enjoy tearing each other apart.
They don’t even have the time to think development because they are busy trying to get back at each other!
How does such a people develop a nation so rich in natural resources?
When we try to take back our factors of production and chase homosexuals back to Norway,we become victims of targeted sanctions.When we come for aid you tell us we are grownups already.Can you please make up your minds about us
HH is a known thief he can’t developzambia, there are a lot of clean zambians who can do better work if HH goes to state house all he would do is to steal what he didn’t take in1996
National development generally starts as a local undertaking. However, as activities and transactions across the globe increase and multiply, then it becomes transformed into an international undertaking. The message then changes from import substitutes to opening and conquering markets world over. Exports are at their greatest peak when product and service quality are competitive and sustainable. The exporter must be dependable and reliable. The importer can show a certain flexibility in terms of advance payment, loans, quality assurance, insurance, etc. This is where industrialized countries have been found wanting by industrializing countries.
Leadership is at the core of development. You can have all the resourses but if leadership is rotten, you will have nothing to show for them.
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