Zambia Development Agency

Welcome

The ZDA is a statutory organisation that was established under the ZDA Act no. 11 2006 which came into effect on July 7, 2006. The ZDA is a merger of the Zambia Privatisation Agency, Zambia Investment Centre, Export Board of Zambia, Zambia Export Processing Zones Authority and the Small Enterprises Development Board.

It is responsible for fostering economic growth and development in Zambia through promoting trade and investment and an efficient, effective and coordinated private sector led economic development strategy. The Agency also has the challenge to develop an internationally competitive Zambian economy through innovations that promotes high skills, productive investment, and increased trade. The ZDA provides core services on behalf of Government with respect to:

Promoting local and foreign investment;
Provision of business support necessary for the growth and development of small and medium sized enterprises;
Promotion of exports and internationalism
Implementing measures to improve efficiency in state owned enterprises;
Acting as a vehicle for consultations with the private sector and recommending coherent trade and industry development strategies;
Development and facilitation of multi-facility economic zones and industrial estates;
Providing assistance in securing services necessary for investment such as land, immigration, registration and licencing.

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES

The following are the strategic objectives of the Zambia Development Agency:

Increasing the level and quality of direct investment in the Zambian economy and priority sectors;
Increasing the contribution of small and medium enterprises to the economy;
Increasing market access opportunities for exporting of Zambian goods and services;
To identify and promote the development of projects which are economically viable in partnership with the private sector;
To initiate and facilitate the establishment of competitive and sustainable industrial infrastructure in key economic sectors, with the overall objective of spearheading growth;
Contribute towards building skills, technology and infrastructure platforms from which enterprises can benefit;
To develop clear policy and operational environment for state owned enterprises to ensure increased levels of operational efficiency and cost effective service provision.

FUNCTIONS

The ZDA strongly supports the objectives of Government to have in place appropriate policies that will attract and facilitate investment, exports and the continued development of industry in a sustainable manner. The success of ZDA is highly dependant on the quality, range and competitiveness of facilities and the quality and levels of service, which must be supported by effective, investment-led marketing programmes and the enhancement of the overall business capability of Zambians citizens.

The ZDA has been established as a one stop facility for all investment and trade. The ZDA has commercial and implementation powers that have been provided to enable it contribute to fostering economic growth through a private sector economic growth strategy. The Act gives powers to the ZDA in key areas of trade development, investment promotion, enterprise restructuring, development of green fields’ projects, small and enterprise development, trade and industry fund management, and contributing to skills training development.

Broadly the functions of ZDA is to further the economic development of Zambia by promoting efficiency, investment and competitiveness in business and promoting exports from Zambia and specifically, its functions are:

Advising the Minister on matters relating to industry, industry development and productivity, investments, exports of goods and services, operations of multi-facility economic zones and matters relating to micro and small scale business enterprises;
To study market access offers received from trading partners under COMESA, WTO or SADC and advise the Government on opportunities and challenges generated by those offers;
Make detailed impact analysis on select sectors of the economy such as textiles, agriculture, mining, tourism, education, skills training, communication, transport, infrastructure development, automobiles, information technology, chemicals and steel and engineering goods;
Establish a database of facilities, human resources and their skills, sources of finance, technology, raw materials, machinery, equipment and supplies with a view to promoting accessibility of these to industry;
Develop entrepreneurship skills and a business culture in citizens of Zambia;
Promote and facilitate the development of micro and small business enterprises;
Formulate investment promotion strategies and coordinate Government policies on investment in Zambia;
Assist in securing from any state institution permission, exemption, authorization, licence, bonded status, land and any other thing required for the purposes of establishing or operating a business enterprise;
Undertake economic and sector studies and market surveys so as to identify investment opportunities;
Plan, manage, implement and control the privatisation of state owned enterprises;
Promote and develop multi-facility economic zones or facilitate the development of multi-facility economic zones by investors;
Promote the transfer of appropriate technology and promote public understanding of matters relating to industry development and productivity;
Provide a framework for the provision of enterprise development services to industry and business enterprises and source for financial aid for the development of trade and industry;
Encourage increased private sector investment in education and skills training for and in the labour market;
Foster business linkages, such as partnerships, joint ventures and other alliances in Greenfield investments;
Encourage measures to increase the capacity to trade including exports and improving transport and information infrastructure;
Provide marketing support services to business enterprises;