‘Zambia’s peace key to foreign direct investment’
ZAMBIA has better prospects of attracting millions of dollars in foreign direct investment compared to other countries in the southern region due to its tested history of peace and political stability, the German-African Business Association CEO and director general Christoph Kannengiersser has said.
Mr Kannengiesser said German investors feel that Zambia was ripe for investment in agriculture, energy and tourism.
“Our organisation will ensure it drives traffic towards those areas that are profitable for both Zambia and German investors, owing to the fact that Zambia is a good destination.”
Mr Kannengiesser said this when he paid a courtesy on Zambia’s ambassador to Germany Anthony Mukwita.
He said what Zambia had to do now was to continue using its good name abroad to woo investors to pump money into the southern African country.
“You can count on your good international reputation as a peaceful and politically stable country to help boost investment which in turn will help create jobs and reduce poverty,” Mr Kannengiesser said.
The German-African Business Association is a national association established more than 50 years ago and boasts of a total membership of some 550 companies across various sectors some of which are already operating in Africa and/or are carrying out feasibility studies to invest in countries such as Zambia.
And Mr Mukwita thanked the Kannengiesser-led entourage and assured that investing in Zambia was advantageous for any German company because of its ‘land linked’ nature and the fact that it belongs to a family of more than 300 million citizens of SADC and COMESA.
This is one of the several times investment organisations have tapped Zambia as a preferred country of investment.
Mr Mukwita said with other countries in the region suffering devastating effects of climate change, Zambia also stood a better chance to quickly diversify and improve the agriculture sector.
“The sector attracting and begging for investment right now is energy and agriculture in our view. And Zambia has demonstrated through two last bumper harvests that it could be a regional grain basket,” Mr Mukwita said.