The Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) has urged Zambian based manufacturers to not only concentrate on the local market but also take advantage of the country’s location to exploit the opportunities presented by the export market.
ZAM Chief Executive Officer Florence Muleya said the association has identified South Africa and the United States of America (USA) as the two trading partners which Zambia has a huge trade deficit with where locally based Manufacturers can increase their non-traditional (non Copper) exports.
Muleya said Zambia has been trading with South Africa under the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) for 30 years while it has been trading with the United States of America under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) for 21 years.
She said that despite trading for all these years with the two markets, Zambia had a negative trade balance of about $1.5 billion and $96 million adding that according to data from Trade Map, non-traditional exports increased and accounted for 95% of exports to SADC and 96% of exports to the AGOA in 2019.
She further said for this reason, the association with support from the USAID TradeHub is hosting the inaugural Zambia Export Awards 2021 on 17 June 2021, which target manufacturers that are currently exporting to South Africa and the United States of America.
She noted that the awards seek to recognise champions of industry and celebrate their ability to overcome the export market entry challenges as they have achieved successful and consistent trade. The ZAM CEO added that the awards will also recognise the export ready companies which have the potential to become big exporters.
Muleya said categories which will be awarded include the Outstanding Trade Performance which shows that the manufacturing sector can export huge volumes to South Africa or America, Best Emerging Exporter which shows that there is room for export ready companies to begin exports to the awards target markets and the Exporter with Greatest Social Impact which shows that exports play a key role in social economic development and poverty alleviation.
She said other categories include the Most Collaborative Exporter which shows how cardinal collaborations are to achieve exports into the awards’ target markets, Best AGOA Export Performance which shows the possibility of consistently exporting into America and the Most Progressive Exporter which shows the small steps which have led to giant strides in exporting to the awards’ target market.
She also said the last two categories are the Top Exporting Businesswoman which demonstrates that women led businesses can overcome the hurdles and challenges which come with exporting to the awards’ target market and the final category which is Top Exporting Young Entrepreneur which demonstrates that youth led businesses can overcome the hurdles and challenges which come with exporting to the awards target markets too.
Muleya said the association recognises that despite the vast potential these markets hold, lack of available market information is a serious problem most Zambian manufacturers are facing to effectively utilise these international export markets.
She added that some companies require technical assistance in aspects such as quality standards, packaging and labelling in order to be able to export to these market destinations, which they are currently not aware of.
She said this is because the quality, packaging and labelling standards for a market like the USA are very high and require training in order to be followed.
She said ZAM is currently leveraging its partnerships with institutions such as ZABS and the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry to ensure that quality, packaging and labelling trainings are conducted specifically for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
She noted that more has to be done in order for Zambian manufacturers to fully utilise South Africa and the United States of America in terms of exports but it is important to recognise those manufacturers who have managed to export and overcome all the challenges.
