President Sata has said the notable increase in Foreign Direct Investment [FDI] inflows reflects continued investor confidence in the Zambian economy and stronger investments profitability prospects.
This follows UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema’s claim that the PF Government is implementing poor socio-economic policies, which in turn have adversely affected investor confidence.
President Sata wondered what investment statistics the UPND leader was using to come up with such an erroneous and simplistic evaluation of the country’s general economic performance.
“…for someone who claims to be an economic manager, we expected Mr. Hichilema to show his economic management competence by engaging the public with proof as opposed to his usual pedestrian arguments about the investor confidence in the economy,” the Head of State said.
“Let me remind him that maintaining a positive investment climate for current and potential investors is an important component of this Government’s economic growth strategy. This is evidenced by the increased actualised investment and Non-Traditional Exports (NTEs) both of which reached the highest in 2013.
“Actualised investment for 2013 is valued at over US$1.8 Billion, whilst actualised investment inflows in 2012 were valued at US$1.7 Billion, from US$1.1 Billion actualised in 2011. It is important to note that investments into Zambia have continued to grow on account of the prudent macro-economic management by Government.”
The President said as of December 2013 NTEs were valued at over US$3.5 Billion whilst for the period 2012 NTEs increased to over US$2.8 Billion compared to US$1.8 Billion in 2011.
“NTEs increased mainly on account of higher earnings from the export of copper wire, burley tobacco, cane sugar, fresh flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, electricity, petroleum products, cement and lime, and electric cables,” President Sata said.
President Sata said the Government’s focus for 2014 will be to: achieve real GDP growth of above 7%; attain end year inflation of no more than 6.5%; increase international reserves to cover 3 months of imports; and containing the overall budget deficit to no more than 6.6% of GDP.
The Head of State said Government will continue to finance high priority capital projects including the provision of infrastructure in the new districts, water and sanitation, health, electricity, education, rail and road infrastructure and thereby build an economy that benefits all.
Issued by:
GEORGE CHELLAH
SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT
PRESS AND PUBLIC RELATIONS
Mature , respectful response
You need someone like Mr sata to keep calm and speak when it is necessary and not yap anyhow
I would be shocked if he didn’t win in 2016
Thanks
@Mushota waba utumaso kwati myefu ya uyo wine ulelandapo. Sorry for my insult, I don’t insult women.
If it is coming from the PF Govt, take it with a handful of salt! No one is in any doubt that this Govt is mismanaging the economy and any claim by Chella (pretending to be Sata) to the contrary should be rebuffed. It does not take an economist to know that no investor would dare plant his $ in this volatile nation Governed by “useless” illiterates with a record of confiscating international companies. If Govt has had it so good with this $1.8b actual direct investment, why is the economy so short of the USD when we didnt have similar problems in 2011 when we only had $1.1b? When is the last time we read about investors coming to Zambia? What we now have is a desperate Govt trying to give mining licences even in national parks just to claim that investors continue to invest in the…
there we have the figures… figures dont lie
I love the term ” in his usual pedestrian arguments”
for the first time in the history of George chella’s rantings from state house, he has sobered up his stinking language of labelling others bitter and envious. so he has realised that real change is indeed real and may be caught in a web. chella you can do better if you can even offer an apology for the previous crude language
This is purely marabish from plot 1. Somebody wrote that ifo on behalf of the fossil, and yet you pretending as if it’s coming from the fossil. Sata doesnt understand that language. He only understand kaponya lingua.
It’s all crap! PF is talking us nowhere, busy stealing and filling their pockets at the expense of future generations.
Let Mr. Chellah, also issue a response about the free falling of the Kwacha.
This is very little money coming in for a country as rich as ours. The income is well less than the expenditure. Considering we have borrowed heavily this is synonymous to someone who gets £5000.00 per month but spends £8000.00 per month. We are living beyond our means and this is unsustainable. The whole of that money does not even equate to Abromovich’s small change and we are a country!
Mushota, stop showing such extreme mockery to your own so called president.
The figures quoted by Sata and his minions mean nothing if the Kwacha keeps falling and the poor people keep struggling to put akabwali on the table.
The only sure indicator of how well the economy is doing is a stable currency , improving standards of living helped by decreasing cost of living. What Sata does not understand is that these foreign investors bring in millions and take out billions as a result of his poor governance. Foreigners cant risk keeping their money in Zambia with such huge political risks.
The only true indicator of how well the economy is doing is a stable or falling cost of living. Other than this all the economic data is useless and does not benefit the majority poor.
PF ‘s rating on the economy and governance is totally -10F.No credibility at all.
Rubbish, why is the Zambian currency performing so poorly if the inflow of foreign investors was good?! In any case, numbers don’t` make sense if the cost of living is skyrocketing, corruption and institutional theft is so high. Why cant Sata come out and state how he has improved the Zambian economy, instead of hiding in State House.
The man is winning. As for the rest keep on yapping, kusatasata, kusabaila. Yap some more…..
Sata and his minions know nothing about economic matters.
True as it may be that FDI has gone up, but the irony is for any amount that is invested 10 times is quickly siphoned off the economy and externalised because of lack of rule of law and poor governance by Sata and his PF. Foreign investors know that Sata is a huge political risk on their finances and so they would rather keep their money else where instead of Zambia with Sata as president.
HH is the man to restore Zambia.
But you didn’t respond to be called as the 2 making axes of evil in the country.
Guy Scott is no long part of you two devils. Respond to issues of character not money, which you don’t even know its value. Ati there is no money for referundum…. ni ndalama shabawishinye what about that $3 Billion?
“Lies, damned lies, and statistics” is a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments.
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)
waba pa – mpu – ti ukufita mu – ko – ngo obe iwee, chee – kaar – Laar
@Chiwanangala, please specify whom you insult, in this case whoever wrote that press-thing.
Some inner feeling tells me that this George Chella(h) chap will not continue in this position after 2016 as his employers’ chances of coming back into governement are next to zero!
Good job Mr. President, this is how you answer and challenge critics, not insults like some people have tended to do of late. By 2016 their mounts will dry they will have nothing to say and they turn green with envy. Keep it up Sir, you have our support.
Mr President sir I wouldn’t blow my top on Foreign Direct Investment when 86% of FDI comes from the Mines. Lets also remember the unscrupulous mining companies you are allowing into the country to set mines at the expense of Zambians.( Lower Zambezi national park mining)Ofcourse thieves have all the confidence in you to bend rules are falling over themselves to dig holes in our country
Good data Mr. President.
Teach this tribalistic Bantoo clansman a good lesson in economics.
Mature or senile?
This is a better statement at least you are now responding with some level of soberness which is reflective of the highest office. Now can you explain the free fall of the kwacha value and the impact thereof, if there is such a good DFI in the country? May you also shade more light on whether the targeting of $3.5billion NTEs compares well with borrowing a $1billion on the balance sheet of countries liquidity? Chance are that you are only looking at number and you do not understand what the imply for the common man on the street.
One more issue is the target of DFI at $3.5billion what can move this country? What is your planned figure so we can judge how ambitious you are. By the way the govt bond locally is only be subscribed to at lower than 55% of what you float on the market. Why?
@Zed@Crossroad
I like your analysis. Small correction though; the adjective for “sober” is “sobriety” and not “soberness” Just thought I should mention…
St. Jude, thanks and well noted.
For the first time George Chella has responded with respect. Please keep it up, how i wish you listened to HH and many advices he gave you rather than persistently calling him biter and so on. MEANWHILE WE HAVE ALREADY LOST INTEREST IN YOU SO 2016 OUT.
OUR PRESIDENT IS GEORGE CHELLAH . TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT.
Good job, Mr. President and God bless you. Amen!
So, Chellah has become your president? Someone should be ashamed that while they are giving us this trash, some people in Eastern are already going without food. So, if the economy is doing fine, what is happening to the Kwacha, food prices? It is only a zombie who can make such insinuations when people are suffering out there.
Nostradamus, surely such kind of behaviour just reflects on your upbringing maybe deep rooted in your DNA. It’s like dissociative personality disorder or emotionally unstable personality. You can argue or disagree but still remain Zambians with good values / principles that guide us. Even in the bible we are told to respect our parents / elders. Hiding behind the key board to insult others just shows the level of immaturity and failure to articulate your argument with sound knowledge. I really appreciate the saying, ‘ education does not make a person wise if he or she has been unwise, people who are born wise use the knowledge acquired to better themselves and their society . The level of insults is an eye sore. Doubt LT has the moderator to stop this un cultured behaviour to stop.
I have mentioned before and do have others that Nostradamus is a mental patient who needs help and prayers. He spends all his time time behind a PC and hurling insults. Gud help this man.
@nostra and Ndobo have choosen to be forever negative againest Govt ,until they change they will not see clearly any development being excuted by Govt, they are blinded by their paymasters it seems.
We don’t want to hear anything until we have a people driven coinstitution in place. Those figures do not even mean anything to the masses because they don’t bring food on the table, they dont stop corruption, they dont stop the abuse of our human rights, they dont lead to good governance etc. Give us our constitution and then we will talk about statistics, substandard roads and clinics and District Commissioners’ Offices you are so proud of building.
you not we!
I don’t believe those figures, where did they come from? Sata and his fellow old men have been lying about the number of jobs they have created and this is just another lie. Actually i don’t believe anything that comes from PF.
AND I DON’T THINK THAT OUR PRESIDENT IS EDUCATED TO UNDERSTAND, LET ALONE WRITE WHAT IS IN THIS PRESS RELEASE…. I will therefore believe that HH said because i know he has a better understanding of economics.
@NOSTRADAMUS
How could you insult someone like that just because she has expressed diferent views? Leka inkwebe, even noko wakufyala (your mother) alikwata AMASO.Limbi iwe noko akufyalile apafumina amafi and so from conception to date,mulya amafi nanoko.It looks UPND=insults. Umwana uwatumpa atukisha ba nyina.
@ RedCross…
U r right my man. Sata shud OPEN UP LIKE THIS. Note just peeping “behind Cameras”.
If those figures are correct why our economy is doing so bad people are dying in poverty.
Who is dying in poverty? You cant even define poverty and hunger. Don’t be in the habit of being emotional for once. A poverty stricken country with people spending hours and hours drinking in bars and night clubs? Give us the figures of people dying in poverty Mr.jimmy
@NOSTRADUM,
You have gone too far with your insults.You see in the end,people have started insulting your mother.Does that make you feel good? My suggestion is that Lusaka times must begin to BLOCK EMAILS of people like Nostradum and those who are just on this site for insults.If they fail to do so,we will suspect them as well as having a wrong motive. Its easy to block them. In this computer age,I’m able even to retrieve NOSTRADUM’s details and if I want I can expose HIM in a SECOND.Give us issues and not insults.Its people like you who are decampaigning for UPND as a party for abussive language and SALVAGE.
Very true
Zoona
Sata is an ignoramus. He does not know what he is talking about. HIS emphasis should have been on how much he is investing in the Zambian people through a good constitution, education, medical care, affordable food via a working agro policy. He is running a government with thugs whose interest is only in externalizing Zambian money abroad. This is not leadership, this is looting disguised as leadership.
At long last, something readable from State House!
You can lie all you like and hide your head in the sand. But mark my words hunger pangs don’t lie. The people will rise!
So its Chellah! Our president cant speak? May be this response was manufactured in matero where even PHDs are made. I will wait intill we a republican president in the name of HH with a sound mind & intellect.
Mr. Chellah, also issue a response about the free falling of the Kwacha.
Dont kubeba, the story on the ground is different. The Kwacha is plummeting and chela and company have kept mute. ITS ALL A PACK OF LIES! Kulibonesha ta!
Stop with the fighting already!
You are all brothers and sisters whose interest is a common goal of fighting for every Zambian to have a decent and better life. How are you going to agree to move forward if you cant look past your differences? Please show us the young that the trust we have in you isnt just an illusion but real! I hope you all will respect each other and work together!
Bloggers, find time to see the documentary “BIG MEN” about Ghana and Nigerian Oil. from it you will indeed realise that it’s all about Money, power and survival of the fittest, what a life! It will also make you realise that with brains, you can make it from the scratch, btwn the lines you learn how naive and foolish we africans have helped the west become reach! just watching it was so sickening.
Ours will be a prosperous nation, Barotseland
For the first time I have read a statement that sounds sensible from George Chela. This sounds true. However you have denied HH’s incinuations providing data to show the very opposite, you have still have not explained why the kwacha it depreciating. You have decided to own the good economic indicators, you should equally own the bad ones and explan what the gvt is doing about the them. Being one sided is being manipulative.
I have looked at this article very carefully…!! This article was written by Mmembe to pretend as if is SATA…!! I can tell you SATA did not write this article….!! Because many zambian were saying SATA has no knowledge of the economy, so he wants to portry SATA as a man who knows economy better than his distractors…!! This boy called Mmembe has mixed SATA bad times…!!I do not understand why SATA has no say to this criminal..!! Mmembe is always saying, he is not a politician, but he is directly involved in PF Government as Minister without portifolio..!!
Such analysis, whether accurate or not, does show that the mind behind it, is at least civilized. The owner of such a mind, must have been to some sort of school. Keep it up George Chellah. It has been a paradigm shift for sure; and proof that the PF government can learn.
Wynter Kabimba may still be the only exception though. Why does he seem to be going in circles on the constitution? I thought the guy is a university graduate and a lawyer!
If the so called investments are happening, which ones will generate revenue for mother Zambia? We are busy borrowing and investing in roads which before we even finish paying the two Euro Bonds they would have been damaged and prompting repairs. Let’s invest in what will generate money and employment not from investors as per case. We are going back to the 20 th Century. Learn to learn and listen other than blame and always defend your interests. Zambia is poor economically.
Is Sata-n not the same person who LIED that his government created over 350, 000 jobs? And you want to believe those deceptive and stupid statistics from a perpetual father of LIES?
Sata-n cannot say anything truthful. He is a PATHOLOGICAL LIAR. Zambians really forget easily. Yesterday he lied about jobs created but ZWD exposed the stinky lies.
Sata-n is a AXIS of EVIL and LIES included. Believe this illiterate moron at your own peril.
…these are issues or articles which flip me over. To start with, the heading is wrong…ofcourse its not the president responding. Its time the Presido responded to such queries during a press conference(state of the nation). These days, when ever I see such articles , I do not even waste time reading it……… I just go straight to posting my comment.
Would it be possible for our economists to show us the real situation of our economic state of Zambia in response to the president’s story? We have great respect for you.
I don’t believe in meaningless armchair ‘figures economics’. If Zambia is doing so well, shouldn’t all this ‘wealth’ be ‘trickling down’ to all sectors that matter in people’s lives? Yesterday I was looking at a classroom picture at a school that is in one of the mining areas. Most of the pupils were writing while either standing or bent over on the floor. No chairs, no desks. This is one simple example. But it is real. Who makes the money, who is in control of it and how it is disbursed (if at all), is what matters.
Moderate response and good enough to have come from high office. Maintain the tone in future responses too. Impressing!
@kudos, all that you know is despising livestock industry, a sign of limited knowledge and exposure. i doubt if i you are aware that U.S.A and netherlands are among the major beef and dairy producers while advanced in science and technology by far and economically much stronger. what you exhibit is simply (ubututu)
Both with red lips awe ifintu tafyaba bwini mumibili ABA bantu. No wonder balisasuka sana tabomfwa bwino. Eish!!!
Was hh an economist the time they were privatization agents?
Tangu lini bwana Sata amepata ujuzi wa mambo ya kiuchumi,ewekezaji na kulipa ushuru? Huyu jambazi Sata hajui chochote na ni lazima atolewe ndipo Zambia ipate ufanisi na heshima.
Breaking news from ZWD!
KABIMBA INTEROGATED BY POLICE, COLLAPSES
Justice Minister Wynter Kabimba was on Wednesday April 9, 2014 interrogated by police over his connection to the Fourth Republic Party.
Kabimba, who is also PF Secretary General, was so shocked and exhausted by the interrogation that when he reached his office, he collapsed.
Sources inside PF say that President Michael Sata has now decided to get rid of Kabimba. Sata has resolved that his inherently corrupt son Mulenga should take over as PF and hopefully Republican president.
At the police Headquarters, Kabimba was interrogated by senior police officers including Inspector general of police Stella Libongani herself.
Sata believes that Kabimba is mobilising money from Sudan and other communist countries for his…
Rubbish, why is the Zambian currency performing so poorly if the inflow of foreign investors was good?! In any case, numbers don’t` make sense if the cost of living skyrocketing, corruption and institutional theft is rife.
sata-n doesn’t even understand what is on that press release.am sure he didn’t even knw abt it not until a pf cader called him with too much praise on the gramma-BAKATEKA,KWENA MWALEPAULA ICHISUNGU.Sata-n was lik were coz today i wrote so much trash on my fb wall.
jambazi MuZamnia wa Zamani, nakuambia wewe ni katibu mkuu wa ibilisi shetani. Itawezekanaje ili Sata atolewe, kwani yeye niviongozi mpendwa kuliko yeyote. Ikiwa utaendelea na matusi ya raisi Sata utakamatwa kokote uliko.
If the direct investment inflows was so good,why sdo we experience the following:
shortage of Dollars
shortages of drugs
removal of food subsidies
higher fuel prices etc etc etc etc
What George Chellah and his master Sata do not understand or are pretending not to know is that a bulk of that so called actualised investment is actually sustaining Capital for already existing and operational mining companies in Zambia.This is akin to drawing money from your saving account and paying for a new tyres to keep your car on the road.It doesn’t add 4 tyres to your car.
Mushota’s stinking ars!e is worrying. Pretending to be a girl and yet you are a homo making money using your rear. Shame! spare us with your silly comments.
President mcs has no economical analytical skills to have come up with such a response. Those guiding him also are misleading him for they do not tell him the truth about the reality of the zambian economy because they fear losing their jobs, (shame on them).President mcs is living in fantasy world forgetting that zambians are the custodians of the power to govern.
We as zambians have learnt it the hard way but will speak through the ballot papers at oportune time.
Pedestrian Arguments = Hadolf Hitler = HH = UPDN = Tonga = Catle
This has got to be the most intelligent comment on this thread. Keep it up Nakulu Mushota.
2016 kuya bebele
country men and weman let us respect each other for the betterment of our country zambia andwe are one people