By JUDITH NAMUTOWE? –

THE Government is looking for a developer to come up with a master plan for Chembe Multi Facility Economic Zone(MFEZ).
Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) director public private partnership and privatisation Henry Sakala said the Chembe MFEZ was on the cards to be developed.?He said this in an interview in Lusaka.
Mr Sakala said the first stage had already been carried out in as far as identifying land was concerned, but that the Government was currently looking for a developer who would work out the layout of the MFEZ.
“As regards to Chembe MFEZ, we are at the stage where land has been identified and we are now looking for the developer.
“The developer will present to us the master plan of this MFEZ which will help us get to know what exactly we want from this economic zone,” Mr Sakala said.
He said the developer would develop the infrastructure such as roads, telecommunication facilities and power.
Once the master plan was done and presented to ZDA, it would then be presented to Cabinet for approval would declare Chembe an MFEZ.
He explained that ZDA had in the past few months been marketing Chembe MFEZ in all the local and international media for the promotion investment.
Mr Sakala said the agency expected that the process would generate interest and that people would be coming to make inquiries to develop the MFEZ.
He added that ZDA was discussing with Zesco Limited on the need for the utility company to move into the area and electrify the MFEZ.
So far the MFEZ has been attracting pledges by potential investors to establish business ventures there.
Government allocated 3,700 hectares of land for the development for MFEZ, which is expected to rake in an average of US$5 million worth of investment per business.
The presence of the MFEZ in Chembe would create several business opportunities for people living in surrounding areas, including the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo.