`Investment process complex`

“We are giving them different stones that are commonly found in the industry so that students are able to correlate what they are learning in class with what they will see in the industry they’re heading towards.

“We have created a display for these stones, so students can see the name of each stone, where they can be found and how it is mined,” he said. By BUSINESS REPORTER

SEVERAL foreign investors are reluctant to invest in Zambia because the process to set up business in the country is cumbersome, a Swedish investor, Nils Peter Gotha Andersen has observed.

In an interview with the Daily Nation in Lusaka, Mr Andersen, who is Chief Executive Officer of Watersprint Company, implored the Zambian government to eliminate some of the requirements set up for a foreign investor to invest.

“I together with other Swedish investors would wish to invest in Zambia but we are concerned about the procedure. It seems cumbersome.

There is so much to be done, you are supposed to be cleared by a lot of government departments and agencies,” he said.

Mr Andersen said as a foreign investor he was expected to be cleared or registered with Zambia Development Agency, Patents and Company Registration Agency (PACRA), Zambia Bureau of Standards (ZABS), Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) and Immigration.

Others are Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA), Ministry of Lands and Ministry of Local Government.

He said Zambia should learn from Rwanda where the government has made it so easy for foreign investors to set up businesses.

“We have extended our operations to Rwanda. Our Company is operating there because we were attracted to the measures that government has put in place. It is very easy and affordable to set up a business in Rwanda.

“So if Zambia can learn from Rwanda definitely this country will see a good number of foreign investors especially from my country to establish businesses and create jobs and wealth for Zambia,” Mr Andersen said.