Maravi

Energy sector posts poor results under 2006-2010

Energy sector posts poor results under 2006-2010
By Fridah Zinyama
Thu 17 Dec. 2009, 04:00 CAT

GOVERNMENT has stated that the structure of growth during the period 2006-2010 has been oriented to a few sectors which have reduced their contribution towards the Fifth National Development Plan (FNDP)’s goal of employment creation.
And the energy sector performance in the period under review period was unsatisfactory with growth registered at negative 1.2 per cent as at end of 2008.

In a recent report released by the Ministry of Finance to review the performance of the FNDP for the period 2006-2010, government stated that there were low linkages between the earnings from those sectors that had registered growth with those such as agriculture that house the largest number of poor people.

“The low level of economic diversification in Zambia significantly contributes to this state of affairs,” the report indicated.

It further observed that the poor performance in other sectors of the economy had contributed to the increase in poverty levels in the country.
“Poverty levels in Zambia have remained high at 64 per cent of the total population,” the report stated.

“This has been mostly due to the increase in the incidence of poverty in the rural population where levels rose from 78 per cent in 2004 to 80 per cent in 2006.”

Government stated that urban poverty reduced marginally but the high levels of poverty had been compounded by the poor performance of the agriculture sector which employed the majority of people in rural areas.
And the report stated that the energy sector performed poorly mainly because of failure in meeting targets for new electricity generation capacity, inappropriate pricing for energy, high oil importation bill, insufficient processing and storage as well as establishment of strategic fuel reserves.

Labels: ENERGY, FNDP

posted by MrK @ 6:03 PM