A LUSAKA entrepreneur has said dramatising the economic challenges the country is facing will not help to find solutions but called for team work amongst all the players in the economy.
Elif Business Solutions Limited Chief Executive Officer Edwin Zulu said opinion makers such as the opposition political parties and the media should realise that negativity significantly affect growth.
Mr Zulu, one of the organisers of the national dialogue on the diversification of the economy slated for Copperbelt next week said in an interview that it was undisputable that the economy was not performing well but people needed to work together to find solutions.
“Opinion makers and the media should be responsible enough and realise that negative statements about the economy affects the confidence in the economy. Yes there are challenges here and there but dramatising the situation will not help, moreover, we all feed from the same economy.
“And as an entrepreneur, I only see an opportunity in these challenges because the bigger the problem the larger is the business prospect, this is a perception of a business executive,” Mr Zulu said.
Zambia should not only sing about the negatives but more so the comparative advantage the country has which could be turned into competitiveness on the market both regionally and globally.
Instead of attacking the economy, people should explore why the country should continue importing cotton wool for the hospitals when the nation produces a lot of it which is exported as raw but comes back as a finish product.
There is need to find a solution to importing fake mango juice when the country has the fruit which goes to waste during the rainy season due to lack value addition facilities.
“Look at the tomatoes that go to waste, that is wealth so we need to come together as country and find home grown solutions to the challenges we facing,” Mr Zulu said.
On the national indaba slated for Ndola’ Savoy Hotel on October 14 -16 October, 2015, Mr Zulu said it was an opportunity for progressive Zambians to discuss and come up with own home grown solutions and ideas to help address some of the problems.
Mr Zulu said it should be noted that the indaba is going to pick on sectors and businesses that were able to give results or start production almost within three to six months of this meeting, as did Franklin Roosevelt who developed America from the Economic crisis within 100days.
I for myself can say, all that is said today was already said before. Its only that our leaders are so much to miilk and honey no one of them feels like leaving the sweetness hence seeing how zambians are suffering. One for himself, they are dont care types because their pockets are full why should they worry about someone living in a village or a shanty compound eating chiwawa and kalembula without salad, eating vikumba van’gombe (cow hides) as meat bought from tarvens sold by kaponyaz and the poor women who want to get something to feed their poor families. Our leaader would never listen to a person from the village they will say ‘aaa…dont listen to that, simudziba kuti nibakumunzi, bakumuushi abo naiimwe ninshi beshibe’, no mattter how active your advice can be. We are ruled…
we are ruled by the Pharaoz of today but one God will answer our prrayers and things will come to normal as thee Israelites did. The Tongaz say ‘Catakamana, cakayosha’. Even the Bible tells us that there’s the beginning and the end, we’re in the world now and till one day come to an end as God says in his holy book. And they say, whatever goes up must come down, everything under the sun has got time to happen. Let them enjoy now their time to suffer will also come because we are in the same world and same country. God bless us.
As @ Objects has already stated, the problem is that of greed and selfishness, not lack of ideas. We have been in this situation before, brainstormed and come up with ideas, which were intentionally ignored by leaders when economy started doing well. What should be tackled is this ‘what is there for me’ attitude.
Close your eyes and think everything is ok.