By Jane Chanda
President Hakainde Hichilema says he has an agenda to more than double the size of Zambia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), believing this will benefit the people of the country.
Speaking at the official opening of the Land Linked-Zambia Conference at Ciela Resort under the theme: “Embracing SMART transport corridors in Africa,” in Chongwe yesterday, the President noted that Africa had the least intra-Africa trade and investment, which was an indictment on its leaders.
“My friend from the European Union and I had a small conversation and I said look, we need to move fast, we need to make things happen. Me I am only elected for 5 years and I have an agenda courtesy of the Zambian people, I have an agenda to more than double the size of the GDP of the country it’s my agenda,” he said.
President Hichilema said there was need for African countries to invest in nonstop border posts as a way of facilitating for the continuous flow of trade and businesses within the African region.
The President called on business communities to come on board in supporting the creation, improvement and maintenance of the fundamental systems and facilities.
He said there was need for networking and cooperation among African countries to improve economic prospects.
“We should not talk about a one-stop border post but a non-stop border post where we invest together,” Hichilema said.
The Head of State further called for affordable cost of capital in order to support the developments taking place in Zambia and Africa at large.
He said despite facing challenges, such as the worst drought in 2024, which affected 2 million hectares of land, the government still managed to achieve a positive GDP growth of four percent and attributed this growth to sectors like mining, energy and tourism.
“If we are slow in doing things, we are damaging the prospects of those that put us in public office so that they can have better lives and children can go to school,” Hichilema said.
He urged stakeholders in the transport sector to support initiatives aimed at enhancing trade in the region and called for joint investments in border areas.
He also urged the banking sector to reduce interest rates so that more business entities could access capital for investment.
Transport and Logistics minister Frank Tayali said there were a lot of achievements that had been made in the Transport and Logistics sector from several international engagements where he had been.
At the same event, Zambia and Angola initiated the Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA).
The BASA governs the rights and obligations of airlines from each country to operate international air services between the two territories.
At the same event, Africast managing director Chimwemwe Nyirenda said the event grew from strength to strength following an increase from one international participant to now eighteen countries.
He said the annual event dubbed: Africa’s Transport and Logistics Indaba, created an opportunity for players in the Transport and Logistics sector to network and grow the sector and ensure that goods and services can be moved freely in the region.
