AFRICA MUST EXPORT FINISHED GOODS - TSHISEKEDI
DEMOCRATIC Republic of Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi has implored African countries to enhance industrialisation and stop being mere reservoirs of raw materials. Mr Tshisekedi said African countries should attain full industrialisation to be able to process raw materials rather than continue exporting the natural resources. The DRC President said this during the official opening of the 55th Zambia International Trade Fair (ZITF) under the theme ‘Inclusive Growth through Entrepreneurship’ in Ndola yesterday.Mr Tshisekedi said that there was greater need for value addition on all the materials so that jobs could be created for the local people. Africa, he noted, remained rich in natural resources which African Governments needed to fully exploit and process within respective countries on the continent. He observed that this year’s ZITF theme was well chosen stating that economic growth would not make sense without exchange and networking among African countries. Mr Tshisekedi said that economic growth of African countries was dependent on inter trade exchange on the continent. “If trade in Africa can’t create jobs for the improvement, we need to grow our trade which comes from international levels,” he said. The Congolese Head of State said there was need to employ necessary ingredients for the improvement of livelihoods and the growth of the economy.He stated that the DRC was the biggest partner of Zambia in the Southern African Development Community region. And President Edgar Lungu said Zambia and the DRC had continued to enjoy cordial bilateral relations. Mr Lungu stated that the presence of Mr Tshisekedi at the ZITF demonstrated growing mutual and bilateral relations between Zambia and Congo in the transformation through trade and investment.