The announcement by President Edgar Lungu that Government intends to revive the moribund manufacturing industry on the Copperbelt is not only welcome but also timely.
This comes amidst a cry that local raw materials were being exported as unfinished products which is not earning the country as much revenue as would be the case if the exports were finished products.
Value addition of local raw materials could turn out to be the best decision Government makes both as a way of increasing revenue on Zambia’s endowment with raw materials and also creation of jobs that the country’s youthful citizenry has been yearning for.
President Lungu is also right in suggesting that reviving the manufacturing industry was the only way Zambia would stay afloat in the middle of the global economic slowdown which has triggered shocks to world economies.
The local manufacturing industry has been in a state of slumber for so many years and needs awakening sooner, rather than later. This has not helped the country to get the multiplier effects of discoveries of mineral deposits dotted around the country.
The Metal Fabricators of Zambia (ZAMEFA) in Luanshya and the Luena farm bloc in Luapula which the President cited are just a few among companies currently transforming raw mineral and agricultural produce into finished products.
ZAMEFA produces copper cables while Luena produces sugar for the local and export markets. Such overtures of growing the local manufacturing sector will also help stabilise the volatility of the local currency.
We feel the statement by the Head of State that manufacturing was a proven lifeline for job and wealth creation for the local people is a well thought out conclusion. This is why Government was targeting to ensure that the industries are up and running in a bid to promote value addition.
These are the same measures Bank of Zambia Deputy Governor Bwalya Ngandu was espousing when he suggested that the country will have to reduce on unnecessary imports if the recent nose-dive of the Kwacha is to be arrested.
Granted that the Central Bank has been pumping dollars onto the market, the measure cannot be sustained on a longer term basis because, like Dr Ngandu explained, it would end up increasing the lending rates which commercial banks are already grappling with from their clients.
It will be important instead to grow the local manufacturing industry which will in turn increase Zambia’s exports and thereby reduce the demand for foreign currency. The demand for foreign currecny has been hurting the Kwacha in recent months.
That coupled with the strength of the United States dollar against other major international currencies has not spared the Kwacha. But it will call for more than just mere armchair criticism from stakeholders to arrest the situation once and for all.
For example, it is time the country cut down on importation of consumption goods such as vegetables and fruits that are sold in multinational chain stores that opt to buy farm produce from farmers in their native countries at the expense of local farmers.
Vegetables are the very basic that an average local farmer can grow even in their backyard. But it starts with the mindset of consumers who seem more comfortable buying everything imported at the expense of locally produced goods.
This should also be a lesson to local producers of goods that their merchandise must be packaged attractively, marketed aggressively and overall delivered on the market with quality and an eye for the competition created by imported goods. OPINION