PRESIDENT Lungu has invited French investors in Africa to come to Zambia and see for themselves the country’s vast investment opportunities in the various sectors of the economy.
And French investors have described what they heard during their meeting with President Lungu as “good news” and promised to come to Zambia this year to explore investment opportunities.
The President said here yesterday that Zambia is one of the best and safest investment destinations in Africa and challenged the investors to take advantage of the country’s geographical location at the crossroads of three regional blocs.
These are the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East Africa Community (EAC).
President Lungu was speaking when he met selected members of the French Council of Investors in Africa (CIAN) at Hotel Le Meurice in Paris, France.
The President was accompanied by Minister of Energy and Water Development Dora Siliya, Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Margaret Mwanakatwe and Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Kalaba.
The President’s special assistant for press and public relations Amos Chanda, Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) executive director Patrick Chisanga and other government officials were also in the delegation.
The CIAN team was led by its chairman, Alexandre Vilgrain.
“I am urging you to mobilise your members to come to Zambia, see for yourselves and explore investment opportunities available in our country,” President Lungu said.
“Your investment in Zambia is not only for the Zambian market but for Africa as well.”
The meeting, which started shortly after 08:00 hours, lasted for one hour.
The President assured the investors that his Government’s interventions will be through measured fiscal and monetary instruments to correct market distortions that may threaten overall economic stability.
President Lungu urged the investors to ignore the misinformation being circulated by some media houses and hear from him because he is the head of State.
“So forget some misguided distortions in some media outlets because you are listening to me as head of State. I oversee the entire economy and so I stand here as the country’s number-one salesman,” he said.
The President said he looks forward to seeing the French investors in Zambia and cherish the opportunity of doing business with them.
He outlined a number of comparative advantages that Zambia has over other African countries, the major one being political stability and open market economic policies.
He offered the investors a win-win situation where they make a reasonable return on their investment while his Government develops the country and improves the lives of the people.
“My belief is that any meaningful investment must result in the uplifting of people’s welfare through equitable wealth distribution,” President Lungu said.
And Mr Vilgrain described President Lungu’s presentation as good news because it has given the investors an accurate picture of the investment climate in Zambia.
“What we heard from the President is good news to us investors. The problem in the past was that many French investors in Africa did not know how to find partners to do business with in Zambia.
“But the President’s presentation was very good. I am coming to Zambia this year with some of my colleagues to come and look at areas of interest where we can invest,” Mr Vilgrain said.
President Lungu is in Paris, France, on a three-day visit to promote Zambia as an attractive investment destination and hold bilateral talks with President Francois Hollande.
He arrived on Saturday and will tomorrow afternoon leave for Lusaka.
Yaba Lungu has just admitted that he is solely responsible for the failing economy in Zambia. The french know how strong the Zambian economy was when PF took over and have since followed how PF under Sata and now under Lungu has destroyed the economy.
For as long justice and rule of law remain a night mare under PF, Zambian economy will continue to suffer.
Lungu boasts of closing institutions of higher learning and thinks the French are stupid not to see through his incompetence, he is kidding his stooges and not the majority Zambians.
Best solution is get Lungu and his failing PF out.
Why doesnt he come to the UK so we can roast him with questions?
Viva UPND and HH Team.
@Wanzelu,everyone knows that the violence that took place at CBU & UNZA was sponsored by UPND which subsequently led to the closure of both institutions……the guy who led the group that beat up a cop at CBU and got his helmet and gun is a well known UPND cadre and that’s how come your party paid bail for the rioters.
But why bury your head in the sand! Students rioted because they were not paid their meal allowances and were hungry.
@ba sebenza speaking of violence can you comment on the thugs who ran amok with pangas at ndola SMK international airport breach the runway in tipper trucks and beating both staff and opposition cadres, moba hotel various attacks and shootings, the mulobezi shootings, the chipata beatings and urinating in the mouth of reporters, the raidin of people’s homes to inspect opposition regalia followed by beatings and gouging of someone’s eye in sinda, whose party cadres were recently sentenced to death by hanging for murdering of a upnd cadre in Lusaka, the TWO (2) separate murders in Livingstone during 2 separate bye election’s, the beatings in the markets especially soweto market, the beatings and thuggery at bus stops especially intercity. Etc etc etc on and on and on the list goes you…
@ba sebenza Etc etc etc on and on and on the list goes you can write a book. Please comment
@Spellcheck, If you go to my previous posts on other topics, I have always stated that both PF and UPND are violent parties and there is an urgent need for both parties to bring an end to this violence before it gets out of hand. In my comment, I was trying to correct Wanzelu on the reason why CBU and UNZA where closed. It’s a fact that students where not paid on time but UPND took advantage of the situation by sponsoring a few students to engage in rioters behavior…….the UNZASU president has confirmed this and also, one of the UPND cadres was in the forefront of beating a cop and grabbed his gun together with his helmet at CBU.
@wanzelu
UPND is dying a very painful death….you guys are busy recruiting rejects from PF…good luck on that one
meanwhile
2016 vote(PF) Edgar
i thank you
I hope Margaret Mwanakatwe has paid off her CEEC loan or has that been swept under the carpet?
These visits sudden me because they do not address the long term problems underlying our poverty. We have resources but we can’t get out of the poverty trap because there’s no empowerment. Until there is an upfront policy to ensure locals become directly involved, the money will keep flying out. Please reassess. Look at those Zambians struggling to survive in manufacturing and other areas ask what can be done to help. The French are just the same as any investor.
Investors are very difficult to deceive. Let’s just make sure that our policies are clear and stable, there is political maturity, availability of real skills, stable currency, less or no corruption, competent leadership (not bena Kambwili, Chama, Mumbi Phiri, etc), then investors will come. They already know what Zambia can offer. What is disturbing them are these issues I have mentioned. Closing universities the way PF is doing is very short sighted and seriously undermines skills development! There is a rumor that PF intends to open the universities in Sept 2016. If it is true, they shouldn’t try it. They should open the Universities on 7 March 2016. Why should 26 000 students, including many privately sponsored students, be affected by the behavior of 200 government sponsored…
@ba sebenza
Sorry for targeting your comment on CBU/UNZA closures and UPND. I am sorry to say your comment is mere politicking. UNZA had closures since it was founded in the early 1960s and UPND only came into being after 2000. KK used to blame outside forces but the students used to merely react to administrative mistakes which could be avoided. Eg in the 1980s UNZA administration introduced meal cards which confined students to old and new dining halls. Students assigned to the old dining hall soon realised that meals here were of a substandard and when this issue was presented to UNZA administration it was thrown out. Tension slowly built until riots broke out and UNZA was closed. Your simple and cadre comment is simply childish and irritating.
Now coming to the invitation of French investors to Zambia by President Lungu I commend him. Indeed any economist worth their degree knows that while Zambia has the physical God given natural resources we still lack the technology and financial resources to tap these natural resources for the benefit of the country. Zambians may have the will to exploit these resources but the means are still lacking.unfortunately party cadres still don’t understand that these foreign investors will want to take out the profits to their comfortable home countries and we can’t force them to relocate to Zambia. The President is all smiles to the investors in Paris but does he guarantee their protection from cadres who will call them racist foreigners when they take measures to protect their business…