By STEPHEN KAPAMBWE-
“Our bilateral talks with our neighbouring countries will soon open Zambia to many social and economic opportunities,” wrote President Hakainde Hichilema on his Facebook page as he concluded a one-day State visit to Malawi on Tuesday.
The president, being a new Head of State, is on a programme of visiting regional counterparts following his election victory in the August 12, 2021, general elections.
His visit to Malawi, where he held bilateral talks with that country’s President Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera, was aimed at boosting regional trade and investment opportunities, besides strengthening other areas of mutual benefit for Zambia and Malawi.
Like Zambia, Malawi is a landlocked country lying east of Zambia.
It is surrounded by three countries; Zambia on the western part, Mozambique to the south and Tanzania on the north-eastern part.
Malawi’s population is estimated at 19,431,566 as of January 2021.
It is mostly inhabited by Chewa-speaking people.
In terms of the economy, Malawi is predominantly agricultural, with about 80 per cent of the population living in rural areas.
The country, which is located in south-central Africa, ranks among the world’s least developed nations.
In 2017, agriculture accounted for about one-third of Malawi’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and about 80 per cent of its export revenue.
Malawi’s economy depends on substantial inflows of economic assistance from the International Monitory Fund (IMF), the World Bank and individual donor nations.
The Malawian government faces strong challenges in boosting exports, improving educational and health facilities, environmental problems of deforestation and erosion, and HIV/AIDS.
In terms of trade links with Zambia, Malawi plays an important role especially in cross border trade.
The country is an important part of the Nacala Corridor which connects Zambia, Malawi itself and Mozambique, and holds potential to boost trade for the whole region.
A few years ago, President Rupiah Banda spearheaded the completion of the Chipata-Mchinji railway line, which had remained incomplete for many years on the Zambia’s side of the border.
The railway project, which has the potential to boost cross border trade between Zambia and Malawi, and also impact the Nacala Corridor by improving transportation of imports and exports to and from the east coast of Africa through the port of Nacala in Mozambique, was commissioned in April, 2010 by President Banda and his Malwawian counterpart Professor MbinguWaMutharika in Chipata.
By 11 years after its commissioning, the Chipata-Mchinji railway project, which was first initiated in the 1970s as a bilateral project between Zambia and Malawi,has remained non-operational.
It was envisaged that the railway line could further be linked to TAZARA at KapiriMposhi for Zambia and Malawi to maximize its benefits.
Cross border trade between Zambia and Malawi remains critical for the city of Chipata, which lies on the border, as well as for communities lying along the shared border, with many Zambian farmers engaged in selling agricultural produce to Malawian traders who cross into Zambia.
To facilitate increased trade, Zambia and Malawi have in the last few years been jointly building the Mwami-Mchinjione-stop border facility with support from partners such as the European Union (EU) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
It is envisaged that once complete, the border will boost trade and increase revenue for both countries besides making it easy for movement of people and goods across the common border.
Therefore, it is these trade links between Zambia and her neighbouring country that President Hichilema wants to develop further even as his New Dawn Government works to reposition Zambia in terms of increasing regional trade in order to achieve development.
‘Earlier in the day, we held bilateral talks with President Lazarus Chakwera of Malawi who is also chairman of the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Zambia and Malawi are only divided by artificial borders, but its peoples are one,’ wrote President Hichilema on his Facebook page after meeting his counterpart in Lilongwe.
President Hichilema said he and President Chakwera committed themselves to fostering peace, unity and democracy for the development ofZambia and Malawi.
He said the discussions covered agriculture, education, health and trade and investment opportunities.
“During our press briefing to members of the press at the Malawian State House, we equally stressed the importance of good neighbourliness and the historical and shared values between our two nations that need to be preserved,” he said.
President Hichilema, who expressed gratitude to his host and to the people of Malawi for the warm reception he was accorded, said he and DrChakwera would expedite the works at Mwami-Muchinji border as they moved towards smoothening trade and investment opportunities between Zambia and Malwawi.
President Hichilema is hopeful that through regular interactions aimed at improving relations as well as trade ties, African leaders will work together to change the narrative about the resource-rich continent which, however, remains poor.
Increasing trade links is at the heart of President Hichilema’s interaction with regional and world leaders since his election into office.
Recently, MrHichilema was in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) where he addressed the Africa Business Forum in Kinshasaat the invitation of DRC’s President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi.
He said the forum, which was held under the theme; ‘Develop a Regional Value Chain Around the Electric Battery Industry, and a Market for Electric Vehicles and Clean Energy in Africa’, resonated very well with Zambia’s aspirations to industrialise through the promotion of value addition to the country’s mineral resources.
Mr Hichilema said Zambia’s participation at the forum was important because it was inspired by his administration’s strong view that international trade and investments are directly linked to the well-being of any nation.
He said this is because Zambia’s economy remains the front and centre of theGovernment’s resolve to create business opportunities that improve the livelihoods of the people.
“Our vision in whatever we do or wherever we go is to create business opportunities for our people, that will ultimately improve livelihoods, promote education, health and democracy,” he said.
Addressing the forum, President Hichilema saidAfrica is endowed with vast natural resources and should not lose out by ending at extraction only, but include value addition as a main component of the continent’s business activity.
He said Africa needs to re-strategise and re-position itself in that regard.
Mr Hichilema said of the top 15 global producers of battery minerals, eight were African countries, which included the DRC, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, and yet value addition, such as top cell production and the assembly of the electric vehicles,was being done in China, Korea, Japan the United States (US), France and Germany.
President Hichilemaurged African leaders to put in place the right incentives, economic conditions and policy environment that will support local companies in forward integration of the battery and renewable energy market.
With increased trade between countries regionally and across the continent, Africa stands to become a force to reckon with in global trade.
But before that, President Hichilema is determined to lead Zambia in unlocking its regional potential before it can tap into continental markets for the benefit of its youthful population.