President Hakainde Hichilema – HH has opted for experienced hands and appointed 65 years old former Finance Minister Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane as new Minister of Finance.
Dr. Musokotwane returns as Finance Minister after serving in the same portfolio in the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) Government between 2008 and 2011.
In his first speech as Minister of Finance, Dr Musokotwane stated that this was his forth time returning to the ministry of Finance. He is no novice at the ministry and is perhaps the best suited to assist President Hichilema who has mostly spent his time outside government in the private sector. Dr. Musokotwane is seen as key to help the new government maneuver the complex and difficult to drive civil service.
In sharing some of his key objectives as he returns to the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Musokotwane pledged to focus on stabilizing the exchange rate, cut down the escalated cost of living and work at aggressively creating jobs for the youths.
He also said the UPND government would focus on making sure the mining sector expands by creating a good environment for more new investments to create more jobs in the country. He pledged to expand mining production from the current 850k tons per annum to 2 million tons per annum in five years and 3 million tons in ten years.
Dr. Musokotwane also said the government would make sure that there is value addition by persuading credible investors to invest in the Multi Facility Economic Zones to start producing value added copper products such copper cables and other copper products.
He said Government would engage the creditors to see if the country can restructure its debt by say paying at a slow pace over a stretched period or tenor to ensure that the country has space to do other tangible economic investments with the national budget.
Dr Musokotwane has pledged to timely engage with the IMF stressing that they are needed for the country to stand a chance of restructuring its debt and improving investor and creditor confidence.
Dr. Musokotwane is a qualified economist with a PhD in Monetary Economics, MA in Monetary Economics, and a BA Economics. He is an Alumni of the University of Zambia and Hillcrest National School of Livingstone. He has vast work experience both in Zambia and with multilateral international organizations.
