Friday, March 29, 2024

United Kingdom a steadfast friend of Zambia.

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Minister Harriett Baldwin shake hands with High Commissioner Chikonde after a meeting at her office.
Minister Harriett Baldwin shake hands with High Commissioner Chikonde after a meeting at her office.

United Kingdom Minister of State for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Minister of State at the Department for International Development Harriett Baldwin has said the UK is a steadfast friend of Zambia.

During a meeting when Minister Baldwin hosted Zambia’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom His Excellency Mr. Muyeba Chikonde at her office on Tuesady, the Minister restated the UK’s commitment to continue partnering with Zambia to strengthen their historical relation.

The Minister said there was a lot of potential in the energy sector in Zambia and the UK partnering with Zambia will support to deliver a more secure and sustainable energy future that will help uplift Zambians and drive economic development.

In July this year Minister Baldwin and Energy Minister Matthew Nkhuwa signed the Energy Africa Compact, a partnership between the UK and Zambian governments and the private sector to support the growth of the sustainable energy sector. While in Zambia, Minister Baldwin also announced £22m of new UK aid funding which will support the development of innovative energy solutions and help millions of Zambians access reliable, affordable off-grid solar energy.

“We are steadfast friends of Zambia and we want to reaffirm our commitment to our bilateral cooperation with Zambia,” she said.

Minister Baldwin told the High Commissioner that Zambia holds a key strategic position as a landlocked country centrally located in Southern Africa region and is pivotal to regional trade and cooperation with other countries.

Minister Baldwin further announced available partnership opportunities with Zambia and neighboring countries in the de-mining near the border areas in order to open-up the space for trade, a program which she said the UK government would support.

The Minister informed the High commissioner that that the UK was passionate about ameliorating the plastic pollution of the Oceans and although Zambia was a Landlocked Country, she was aware that the country was home to large water bodies and a source of water for the region and the UK could assist in dealing with the problem of plastics.

The Minister also acknowledged Zambia’s effort in the fight against Forced and Early Child Marriages and applauded President Edgar Lungu for Zambia’s leading role in the fight against the scourge.

During the 72nd United Nations (UN) General Assembly last year, British Prime Minister Theresa May commended President Lungu for leading a robust campaign against human trafficking, forced labour and early child marriage.

The British Prime Minister also pledged the United Kingdom’s support to Zambia to help the country’s efforts in eradicating modern slavery, forced labour and human trafficking.

And Minister Baldwin hoped that Zambia will send a High-Level government and strong business delegation to the UK-Africa Investment Summit that will be held in the United Kingdom in the Summer next year in order to attract UK based companies and forge partnerships that will help accelerate economic growth and alleviate poverty in Africa and Zambia in particular.

The Minister informed High Commissioner Chikonde that during the Prime Minister,Theresa May’s visit to Africa, she stated that the UK was looking to forge new partnerships with countries around the world in view of Brexit and the Prime Minister wanted the UK to be the number one G7 investor in Africa by 2022.

And in response High Commissioner Chikonde said the Zambian government is committed to enhancing its bilateral cooperation with the UK government through various partnerships and new areas of cooperation beyond Development Assistance.

The High Commissioner added that the UK was one of Zambia’s major sources of FDI and that CDC has already investments in companies like Zambeef but emphasized that there was much more scope for UK investment into Zambia.

High Commissioner Chikonde also said President Lungu was passionate about the Girl Child and he was committed to lead the campaign to protect women and the girl child.

He added that Zambia will continue to lead the campaign both at Regional, Continental and global and he welcomed the Prime Minister’s support to ending modern slavery.

The High Commissioner also stated that that Illegal Wildlife Trade was transnational in nature and made sense to have regional strategies and therefore the need for collaboration with neighbouring countries such as Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Minister Baldwin responded that the UK stands ready to partner with Zambia to help fight illegal wildlife saying the UK would be willing to support regional initiatives that would help bring illegal Wildlife activities under control.

Zambia and the United Kingdom reaffirmed their commitment to their bilateral cooperation and both countries are looking forward to the expeditious conclusion of the forensic audit in the Ministry of Community Development and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Education.

This statement was issues to the media by Mrs Abigail Chaponda, the First Secretary for Press and Public Relations at Zambia High Commission in the United Kingdom.

27 COMMENTS

  1. I have met this woman many times and she does not trust the Zambian regime at all. She has to be diplomatic in public..however I know her personally as my Swiss wife and her have known each other for years. When we met her she had a lot of worries over Zambian state of affairs.

    • The problem with empty tins that have not been exposed is that they think it is impossible to know people in public service abroad. You think when hh meets the UK political officials he facilitates it himself ? As a party strategist I know people internationally. There is nothing special about these people. I interact with them as part of work. They are just human like me and you. Mukose

    • Sharon for us who are well enlightened and men of substance the so called whites you worship actually fight for us . I have lived studied abroad and nina datinga ma nationality yambili. Nothing special. It is only a problem when you go to America as an asylum seeker on welfare like you

  2. UK is such a good friend of Zambia they demanded $2.7m money back from Lungu’s corrupt regime. Well done former colonizers.

  3. Corruption and abuse = steadfast friends of Lungu & PF so Madam Harriett Baldwin you better tread carefully otherwise you’ll be associated with graft.

  4. Zambia has benefited greatly from the cordial relationship with the UK especially in manpower development in education, security, health, agriculture and in many other sectors.
    The UK remains a true friend of Zambia.
    Long live UK-Zambia relationship.

  5. Imperialists just talk and just want to keep enslaving Africa with their minded modern slavarly called AID or GRANTS to support social projects for HIV/AIDS, water aid etc, and never will they bring infrastructure development to Africa, henece they are madly frustrated with China’s massive infrastructural developement partnership with most African Countries. China is massively constructing infrastrucures and linking Africa to the rest of the world , while imperialists are giving peanuts in grants and aid to fight HIV/Aids and other communicable diseases while they root African resources and kill animals in African reserves for their benefits.

    • Ndobo we can make big big money from tourists. The world is full of educated people who want to study such things as broken Hill man. Right now all these tourists go to Britain.

  6. Friends on the outside, but when we look deeper it is not the case. So many years of exploitation, colonialism and slavery cannot be erased so easily – they stand as a perpetual warning to us. As we speak, our national artefacts like the skull of the Broken Hill Man are still being kept against our will in the London museum. So according to the UK, Zambia does not qualify to keep it’s own valuable assets. What kind of friendship is that?

    • You failing to take care of the living muma komboni dying from the ceremonial rain season cholera,you think you will take care of the dead?

    • 1. & 2. We cannot progress if we think like that. Where is your national pride? If someone steals your car, do you say: “well, I can’t even afford the fuel anyway, so it’s OK, let him keep it.”

      What is rightfully yours must be given back to you, period. It does’nt matter if you are incapable of taking care of it. We definately cherish our national history and we want to keep ALL our relics in our national museum – just like the British will not allow us to keep the Royal sceptre of King George in our museum.

    • @Ndobo we can make big big money from tourists. The world is full of educated people who want to study such things as broken Hill man. Right now all these tourists go to Britain.

  7. The best way to counter the British agenda to tarnish Zambia’s reputation to investors abroad to promote regime change is by; avoiding their tainted bilateral donor AID money; terminating business involvement with UK companies ie Cancel and put to tender the Tullow Oil Petroleum Exploration Licence 28, which covers a 55,000-square-kilometer (21,236-square-mile) onshore block in northern Zambia. and disqualify Glencore Energy UK’s exploration bid to buy a majority stake in Zambia’s Indeni Petroleum Refinery. The less we have to do with the British the Better off we are.

  8. “Britain will partner with Zambia as a good friend”.
    PF, note that this friendship has been there since independence and will continue for many years to come. It has nothing to do with “PF Government” but with the Government of Zambia. Not even with “upnd government” in 2058. As you know, political Parties come and go (even into extinction) BUT Governments last forever. …..Just to emphasise the point for PF morons who disgust everybody by singing “PF Government” everywhere so much that they even want to claim ownership of Zambia’s independence!!

  9. The zambian Ambassador was actually summoned by the foreign minister over the theft of the social cash transfer find. That is when this picture was taken.Now to him that is called hosting.

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