Thursday, March 28, 2024

Government committed to industrialisation – Mwanakatwe

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Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Margaret Mwanakatwe
Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Margaret Mwanakatwe

Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Margaret Mwanakatwe says government will ensure that all industrialisation strategies it embarks on addresses job creation and youth unemployment in Zambia.

Mrs. Mwanakatwe said government was mindful of the fact that Zambia was still a long way to go in terms of industrialisation and job creation hence the need to harmonise the two agendas.

She noted that as government engages into industrialising both the urban and rural areas of Zambia, it will consider the segment of the population which is not employed.

An estimated 70 per cent of the Zambian population comprises young people under the age of 25.

She was speaking in an interview with ZANIS in Harare today after attending an extra-ordinary meeting of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) council of ministers.

The extra-ordinary meeting of the SADC council of ministers precedes the extra-ordinary heads of state and government summit which will be held here on April 29, 2015.

The extra-ordinary summit of heads of state and government will be held under the theme “beneficiation and value addition: regional strategy and roadmap for industrialisation”.

Mrs. Mwanakatwe said government will industrialise all parts of the country depending on their economic comparative advantage.

The Commerce Minister explained that government will endeavour to add value to products that are produced in a particular region of the country by setting up industries that would subsequently employ the local people.

Meanwhile, Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Kalaba said the just ended extra-ordinary meeting of the SADC council of ministers has emphasised industrialisation as the key towards addressing most of the economic challenges which the region is facing.

Mr. Kalaba said SADC was moving towards coming up with a regional strategic plan that will fit into the African Union 2063 agenda which seeks to make the whole continent have an equal economic footing with the rest of the world.

He said the SADC economic bloc was working towards emancipating itself so that it can relate well with other regions in terms of economic stability and well-being.

He added that SADC should also be able to economically relate well with the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) and the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) which will be launched in Sharma el Sheik in Egypt on June 10, 2015.

“All this is meant to make Africa one and once we do that, we will become stronger and even in the development process, we will move as one continent of Africa in realising the dreams of our peoples,” he said.

7 COMMENTS

  1. YOU HAVEN’T SPOKEN ABOUT THE IDC (INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION THE GOVERNMENT SPECULATED TO START, CAN YOU TELL US HOW MANY COMPANIES HAVE BEEN FORMED UP UNDER THIS UMBRELLA AND IF THE RURAL MILLING COMPANIES WILL FALL UNDER THE SAME UMBRELLA? AND HOW FAR DO THE ZAMBIA YOUTH HAVE TO WAIT BEFORE THEY SEE THIS INDUSTRIALISATION PRODUCING FRUITS? I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT THE FRUITS THAT CAN ONLY BE SEEN BY EDUCATED PEOPLE BUT BY JUST ORDINARY PEOPLE, TOO.

    • Pure ignorance being portrayed by the minister. All i hear is talk and nothing concrete. Maybe because it is at ministerial level this discourse. But you should also inform us what the technocrats from the ministry are telling us. What is the actual strategy.Imwe imimbulu, just write policy agreements between the member countries. E.G South africa will process metals and stuff,and do electronic device development, zimbabwe can be doing the designing, zambia and malawi will do the assembly, Namibia will handle the exports etc. And thats just one business market of say car manufacturing. then change the roles for another industry like tobacco production, then another strategy for sugar manufacturing, light aeocraft manufacturing etc. We can do this. We have some infrastructure already

  2. One way to industrialise is to identify initiative, skills, potential. Identify those who have talent and support that and help develop it, not letting it rot in their houses.
    Encourage and fund research, identify geniuses and help them develop their ideas.
    Also make loans cheaper and easy to get

  3. How can you industrialize with punitive manufacturing taxes of up to 35%. This is the highest manufacturing tax in the world. No one will be stupid enough to put a manufacturing facility in Zambia. You will continue importing bath soap, cooking oil biscuits etc if you don’t reduce it.

  4. She talks as if industrialization will happen like the creation story in the book of Genesis: “let there be industries in whole Zambia! And so it was!” She learned to sink low and speak like a political cadre!

  5. industrialization, my foot! You are not even able to develop a car despite the abundance of copper. Look at Malaysia. This is a country that does not allow any car apart from its local manufactured cars like Proton to operate as taxis. These are guys who can talk of industrialisation and not Zambia which cannot even modernise mbaula for its people. Prof Chirwa said let us make our own trains but you PF crooks framed up issues on him and went to order refurbished trains from RSA because you and to pocket more money in your pocket including sata’s pockets which Mulenga has used some of it to buy a house in South Africa.

  6. Just put professor Chirwa in charge of the Rail system and Zambia will not be the same again.

    Professor Clive Chirwa is a geneous.

    Mr Hichilema, when you become president, please get people like Professor Chirwa to assist you in rebuilding the economy.

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