The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) met with a team of investors from South Korea, led by the Zambian Ambassador to that country H.E Andrew Bwezani Banda. In welcoming the delegation, ZDA Director General Albert Halwampa described Zambia as the best and most peaceful investment destination in Africa.
Mr Halwampa emphasised that peace is important for investment as it makes the business environment predictable, thereby providing an assurance for a return on investments.
He highlighted that Zambia offers numerous investment opportunities in selected priority areas such as agriculture, mining, energy, manufacturing, construction, water supply and information and technology.
“There are investment opportunities in the copper value chain such as the manufacturing of electric vehicle batteries, accessories and electric vehicles. In terms of energy, Zambia is currently producing up to 2700MW of power. However, demand has increased to over 7000MW which provides an investment opportunity in renewable energy sources such as solar, nuclear and wind among others,” he explained.
Mr. Halwampa shared that with the coming of the Lobito Corridor, there will be a lot of opportunities in infrastructure development, transport and logistics and other services to support the mining sector in the country.
Under the agriculture sector, Mr Halwampa told the delegation that Government has set aside one million hectors of land for agriculture to service both the local and export markets.
He said due to the central location of the country and the favourable business and climatic condition with over 40% water bodies in southern Africa being in Zambia, many countries look up to Zambia for food creating a ready market for agricultural produce.
Mr Halwampa highlighted the ready market access through the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Common market for Eastern and Southern Africa and the Africa Continental Free Trade Area which boasts a population of over 1.5 billion people.
He applauded the establishment of the Presidential Delivery Unit (PDU) and the Public Private Forum (PPDF) which are intended to address and fast tract all private sector bottlenecks. This is in line with the vision of the Republican President His Excellency Mr. Hakainde Hichilema who believes in a private sector led economy.
Mr Halwampa invited the Koreans to take advantage of the huge investment opportunities and favourable investment climate to invest in Zambia.
“We want you to come back as investors and look forward to handholding you throughout your investment journey in Zambia the best investment destination,” concluded Mr Halwampa.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Banda said Zambia had a lot to learn from South Korea in terms of agriculture, construction and manufacturing among others.
He noted that despite 80% of South Korea being mountainous, the country is self-sufficient in food production. The Korean investors expressed interest in Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and Special Economic Zones among other areas.
One of the investors Mr. David Kim who is Senior Manager at Kyungchang Industries expressed interest in developing a Special Economic Zone for Korean businesses in various sectors to set up.
