ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL WROTE:NO DIGNITY IN DEPENDANCE... WE ARE happy to learn that Zambia has managed to reduce its dependence on foreign aid to less than five percent of its national budget. The announcement by Minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda on Tuesday must have come as a great relief to the nation, which is working hard to wean itself off donor support. This achievement has not come by accident but is a result of serious economic reforms, prudent management of national resources and adherence to good governance. In our lead story in yesterday’s edition we quoted Mr Chikwanda as saying the contribution of foreign aid is now an “insignificant” percentage of the nation’s gross domestic product. It is encouraging that after decades of economic stagnation and heavy dependence on foreign support, Zambia is now able to fund 95 percent of its budget from locally mobilised resources. The government is on the right path by focusing on foreign trade and foreign direct investment as the drivers of economic development. By boosting exports and attracting more foreign direct investments the nation will generate the resources it needs to fund its programmes. This is as it should be. No household can claim dignity if it survives on alms from otherfamilies even when it has the capacity to lookafter itself. Equally, no nation can claim to be sovereign when half of its budget has to be financed with external aid. We are aware of the fact that it impossible tototally do away with external aid, but it should only come in as a last resort when there are significant funding gaps, as Mr Chikwanda stated. When a nation is able to finance its own budget from locally generated resources it will be able to run its own affairs without external interference. That is what can be described as true independence. There is renewed emphasis on diversifying the economy by strengthening the agriculture, tourism and construction sectors. We are confident that if we are united in our quest for economic independence the contribution of external aid to our country’s budget could drop to zero in the next 10 years. Zambia is closer to achieving this goal than ever before. What the government needs is support from all those citizens who truly lovetheir country. With the successful hosting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) general assembly by Zambia and Zimbabwe, this country should expect an increase in the flow of investment. Hosting a global event of such magnitude is no small feat. It has simply confirmed Zambia’s increasingly elevated status as a stable and, therefore, attractive investment destination. Expansion projects at the copper mines on the Copperbelt and in North-Western Province are also expected to increase the country’s earnings from metal exports. However, metal trade is highly vulnerable as has been seen in the volatility of copper prices on the international market. We, therefore, urge the government to continue investing in the three alternative sectors – agriculture, tourism and construction - to cushion the nation from theimpact of unstable copper prices. Already, the country has made notable strides in agricultural production, recording harvests well above its annual consumption for three consecutive years. Tourism is enjoying steady growth while the entire nation has almost become one expanse of a construction site. Only a week ago the government launched the Lusaka 400 kilometre road construction and rehabilitation project on the heels of the Link Zambia 8000 project. There is no doubt that the country will become completely independent of external aid as long as there is consistency.
Posted on: Thu, 29 Aug 2013 04:46:17 +0000
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