The Economics Association of Zambia – EAZ has disclosed that over K 5million was spent by participants during the two-day economic summit which took place last week in Zambia’s tourism capital of Livingstone.
The summit which attracted delegates from more than 15 countries was aimed at navigating potential solutions to the challenges Zambia and the continent of Africa faces.
Addressing the Media at Lusaka on August 1, 2019, EAZ President Lubinda Habazoka said the summit achieved its key objective of provoking challenges that the nation is facing at sector level with proposed solutions and recommendations provided.
He added that other areas of focus were the use of economic diplomacy as a tool to maximize national economic growth through boosting intra Africa trade, negotiating bilateral agreements and leveraging each other’s strengths to keep the growth of Africa running.
Habazoka further disclosed that key things tabled at the summit were the high interest rates and liquidity challenges to weighing down Small and Medium Enterprises – SME financing. He noted that Zambia’s financial markets continues to be faced with high interest and liquidity challenges that have hampered SME growth and forced commercial banks to seek long term credit lines at lower costs.
EAZ pointed out that the need for more meaningful access to finance for SME’s through waiving stringent requirements that banks request such as audited financials adding that meaningful and sustainable funding to SME’s will allow them blossom into bigger corporation’s overtime.
He reported that the summit also brought on the table the need for infrastructure development funding under the private public partnership – PPP saying it helps to ease the cost of finance and will allow for non-traditional source of cheaper finance.
In addition, the EAZ president mentioned on the need to make deals with IMF to assist with dollar debt pricing should Zambia wish to make an appearance in the international capital markets to refinance its falling due debt.
“The IMF will also open up potential to guarantees to debt issuances by state owned entities that would be looking to capitalize for operational efficiency purpose. It must be understood that an IMF deal is in this regard not for the balance of payment to support the $ 1.3 billion but for the investor flows it will open up to Zambia,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Association is confident that Zambians have the capacity to address the economic challenges that the country faces hence the need to raise for the occasion and has pledged the Association’s commitment through its means to address the challenges that the country is grabbling with.
