ZDA records 351 investment ventures worth $8.59 billion in 2022 compared to 255 worth $3.33 billion in 2021

The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has recorded 351 investment ventures worth 8.59 billion United States Dollars in 2022 compared to 255 investment ventures worth 3.33 billion United States Dollars recorded in 2021.

The 2022 investment ventures represent an increase of 157.96 percent.

Speaking at a media briefing yesterday in Lusaka, ZDA Acting Director General Albert Halwampa disclosed that the key sectors of investment included manufacturing, energy, mining, transport, construction and agriculture with the highest investment of US$ 4.0 billion recorded in the construction sector.

Mr Halwampa said that the 351 investment ventures translated to 74,679 jobs compared to 24,585 jobs recorded from the 255 investment ventures recorded in the same period in 2021.

“During the period under review, 184 Investment ventures were monitored recording actualised investment of US$ 4.40 billion and 19,528 jobs. The Agency undertakes monitoring and evaluation as a way of ascertaining the level of project implementation,” he said

Meanwhile, the Acting Director General disclosed that for the first time in nine years, non-traditional exports (NTE) increased by 33.09 percent to US$ 3.6 billion in 2022 from US$ 2.7 billion in 2021 as the Agency continued to facilitate the competitiveness of exporters through various services as well as exposure to markets.

“This resulted in deals worth USD 99.61 million of which US$ 74.96 million were confirmed orders and US$ 24.65 million were leads,” he said

Mr Halwampa noted that the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) accounted for 45 percent of the total NTEs for 2022 with a total of US$1.45 billion compared to USD1.09 Billion in 2021, representing an increase of 32 percent.

Mr Halwampa added that in business development, about 5,523 businesses accessed Business Development Support (BDS) Services from the Agency which include, access to market, finance, technology and training as compared to 4,079 supported in 2021, representing an increase of 35.40 percent, and as a result of these business developments about 7,247 jobs were recorded in comparison to the same period of 2021 which recorded 6,334 jobs.

He cited that overall, the Country’s macroeconomic environment improved characterised by improved investor confidence. This was triggered by sound economic policies by the Government including stabilization of the macroeconomic fundamentals, implementation of fiscal measures and reaching the IMF Staff Level Agreement on an Extended Credit Facility arrangement with Zambia.

Mr Halwampa further cited that during the period under review, the Agency continued to implement various interventions that were aimed at enhancing the growth and competitiveness of businesses, promoting exports, and attracting investments in the key sectors of the economy.

He mentioned that in 2023, the major factors anticipated to influence the Agency’s performance are the government policy reforms on the ease of doing business. The reforms will help to improve the competitiveness of the business environment necessary for investment attraction, retention and re-investment, adding that the strategic focus by the Agency on domestic investment and progressive measures in the soon to be operationalized Investment, Trade and Business Development (ITBD) Act will lead to increased local investment.

Mr Halwampa further mentioned that the Agency is further working to reduce the period for the issuance of Investment Licence to below Ten days. In fact, I am happy to report to you that as of 2022.

“We cleared all the backlog complete application and are starting on a clean page in 2023,” he mentioned

Meanwhile, in 2019 to 2020, ZDA recorded a total of USD 5.841 billion worth of projected investments in 2020 from 326 registered investment projects compared to USD 4.880 billion in 2019 from 350 registered investment projects.

ZDA Chairperson David Musopa announced that this represents a 19.7 percent increase in the value of projected investments, adding that of the total registered investments in 2020, USD 3.170 billion was Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and USD 2.68 billion was Domestic Direct Investment (DDI), representing 54.3 percent and 45.7 percent of the total projected investment.

He explained that the Agency in 2020 recorded re-investments worth USD 1.97 billion from 26 investment projects compared to USD 3.95 billion from 76 projects recorded in 2019.

“These investors projected to expand their businesses and to create 1,626 additional jobs in 2020, compared to the 1,101 jobs that were projected to be created by re-investments in 2019,” he said.

Bishop Masupa further said that ZDA has, in the last five years, recorded a positive trend in the growth of projected investments, mainly in Greenfield Projects.

He said the projected surge in investments confirms the relative conducive business and investment climate created by the Government through ease of doing business reforms, political/economic stability, peace, security, good governance, and a favorable legal regulatory environment.