‘Finished goods will earn us more’
‘Finished goods will earn us more’By Times Reporter
PRESIDENT Mwanawasa has regretted that Zambia and other African countries have continued to export raw materials and later import finished products that cost more. Mr Mwanawasa was speaking to journalists at Lusaka International Airport yesterday shortly before departure for the France-Africa Summit scheduled for February 16 and 17 in Cannes. He said a lot of raw materials were being produced in Zambia and there was need to add value to these materials by processing them so that they could be exported as finished products. The processed raw materials would also earn Zambia the much-needed foreign exchange.
‘‘The value of raw materials is essential because it will create more jobs for Zambians and enable the local people to enjoy the fruits of owning natural resources. It does not make sense that raw materials should be exported and imported in form of finished goods which is sometimes 50 times the original price,” he said
And Mr Mwanawasa said the African continent had the ability to realise its potential and he did not see any reason why the presence of Africa should not be felt when it was one of the biggest continents in the World. The President said he would be preaching to his fellow African leaders on the need to ensure that Africa’s weight was felt globally.
First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa, and some Government officials accompanied the President
The France-Africa summit, which is held every two years, is a forum for political dialogue aimed at creating awareness and a better understanding of the critical issues affecting development of the African continent. Vice-President Rupiah Banda, Cabinet and deputy ministers, service chiefs, senior government officials, Lusaka Mayor Susan Nakazwe, MMD party officials and cadres, saw off Mr Mwanawasa at the airport.
Meanwhile, a British Airways (BA) flight from Lusaka to London yesterday failed to take off on time after the electronic check-in system developed a fault forcing ground crew to physically check-in passengers and baggage. The system affected the flight, which was supposed to take off at 06:40 hours but only took off at 09:00 hours. The BA plane which the president eventually used on his way to France arrived at the Lusaka International airport at about 08:40 hours in readiness for the departure at 09:45 hours. However, the plane only took off at about 10:30 hours and BA officials refused to comment referring all queries to their London office.
Zambia Telecommunication Company (ZAMTEL) spokesperson, Charles Kachikoti, when contacted for a comment, said the fault was because lightning struck the transmission facilities on Monday afternoon. “ZAMTEL technicians were able to restore the main transmission link to the airport the same day. However, ZAMTEL later received a report that some services were still not working,” Mr Kachikoti explained. He said the services were restored yesterday around 08:25 hours. And ZANIS reports that preparations have reached an advanced stage for the France-Africa summit, which opens tomorrow in the French coastal city of Cannes. President Mwanawasa is expected in Cannes to join about 40 African heads of state and government at the summit.
Ministers from Africa and their French counterparts met in a closed-door session at Cannes international conference centre to finalise the agenda for the two-day heads of state and government summit. Zambia was represented in the preparatory meeting by Community Development and Social Services Minister Catherine Namugala who is leading the Zambian advance party to the summit.
Labels: MANUFACTURING, MWANAWASA, ZAMTEL
posted by MrK @ 1:14 AM
3 Comments:
I wonder where anyone gets the guts to complain about the lack of export of finished goods, when he doesn't even fight to benefit from the raw materials he is exporting (I estimate Zambia is losing around $1.6 billion per year in lost copper and cobalt sales.)
He needs a chief Whip or whatever they call them in Our Zambia,lately theres been a tendency of commenting on serious issues without getting the full information on what they entail or are about, youre absolutely right but I think he doesnt know thats the implications of the desicions being made.
A chief whip would be a good idea. What I think in Zambia is the case, s that several systems seem to have been thrown together.
On the one hand, there is a parliamentary system like Westminster, but no Prime Minister as head of government and a Queen as head of state. These functions (head of state and head of government) are now combined in the Preasidency, like in the American system. France has a system like that (a President and a Prime Minister), but I don't think the rest of Zambia's system is tuned to the French system.
What I think this is all emblematic of is concentration of power in the presidency which started under KK, and became only worse under Chiluba and LPM. Power should be devolved to the civil service (no more presidential appointments), parliament (no more major decisions without a thorough debate) and local government (a lot of the domestic tasks performed by the ministries, like employing teachers, doctors, police officers and more should be local government employees).
Right now, Levy seems to be acting as his own President, Foreign Minister, Home Affairs Minister and Chief Whip. And he is complaining about all the work. :)
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