AS I have noted before, Zambia is a country of great economic potential. One of the most important factors creating that potential is Zambia’s dynamic young entrepreneurs. Nine of those young Zambians were invited by the United States to the July 25-26 Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi hosted by President Barack Obama.
They returned to Zambia motivated and energised.
President Obama told the participants at the summit that entrepreneurship was “the spark of prosperity.” His remarks resonate here in Zambia: your entrepreneurs will lead Zambia from reliance on aid to prosperity through business and trade. Your entrepreneurs will spark future innovations and solutions, creating jobs, and building businesses.
As US Ambassador to Zambia, I have been continually impressed and energised by the young Zambian entrepreneurs whom I’ve met since my arrival in this beautiful country. President Obama is right – these entrepreneurs hold the key to a brighter, more prosperous future for all Zambians.
My Embassy chose Zambia’s participants with care.  We didn’t want to send just anyone to the Summit but rather current and future business leaders whom I hoped would impress everyone in Nairobi as much as they have me and who would make the most of the Summit’s “networking” opportunities.
They succeeded. As is so often the case in African fora, the Zambian contingent was among the most impressive at the Summit and they made good use of the event as well. One of the Zambian women entrepreneurs who attended told us that the experience helped her decide to change her entire business plan for the better.
Another told us how valuable it was to meet American, Kenyan, and other African and international businesspeople who had overcome the same challenges she faces.
It’s important for Zambians, indeed all Africans, to harness the energy and enthusiasm of the Summit to create faster and more sustainable economic growth.
President Obama said in his speech, “It’s hard to access capital.” How true this is for Zambians: loan interest rates are too high and Zambia’s ease of doing business is rated poorly on an international scale. Despite the country’s great potential, international and domestic investors alike are wary.
How can Zambia better attract the capital it needs to grow faster? The answer is not more government regulation or intervention. Quite the opposite, it lies in the government freeing the private sector and unleashing the creativity of its entrepreneurs.
Less intervention, less regulation, will lead to greater investment and faster growth.  The Zambian Government, the United States government and other stakeholders may have a role to play in connecting Zambian entrepreneurs with resources. But if we are going to move Zambia from aid to trade, we need to rely on the ingenuity and drive of the entrepreneurs themselves.
For me, one of the most exciting parts of President Obama’s speech was when he mentioned the women’s entrepreneurial center that we have opened here in Zambia.
The United States is proud to support the WECREATE Zambia Center opened in June 2015 in Kuku Compound, Lusaka. The Center has already helped hundreds of Zambian women work through business models and gain access to entrepreneurship mentors.
As President Obama said, “Research shows that when women entrepreneurs succeed, they drive economic growth and invest more back into their families and communities.”
We are proud to provide a Center to give Zambian women access to entrepreneurship resources.
Another exciting part of the Summit was the emphasis on Power Africa. President Obama said, “Our Power Africa initiative has been leveraging private capital to invest in electrification all across the continent.
And our preliminary goal was 10,000 megawatts; now we’re looking at 30,000 megawatts, and we’re well on our way.”  President Obama was referring to United States government cooperative efforts together with African countries’ governments, with the Swedish government – especially here in Zambia were we are co-leading the initiative, the World Bank and the African Development Bank and other International Financial Institutions, as with private sector partners – all intended to increase power generation in Africa and to increase African’s access to power.
I look forward to engaging further with the Zambian government and the Zambian people to help drive the country’s economic development.  Most of all, I look forward to more stories of Zambian entrepreneurs building successful businesses.
As President Obama said, “Entrepreneurship means ownership and self-determination, as opposed to simply being dependent on somebody else for your livelihood and future.”
The United States and the American people want to help realise that vision here in Zambia.
(The author is US Ambassador to Zambia)