By NATASHA KANA –

LONDON’S Lord Mayor Jeffrey Mountevans says the United Kingdom (UK) is keen to support the development of the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE) to help Zambia’s long-term financing needs.
Lord Mountevans said at their best, capital markets provided a huge reservoir of liquidity and a global investor base.
He said this in Lusaka yesterday during a round table discussion on facilitating of Foriegn Direct Investments using the Zambian capital markets.
The theme of the discussion was ‘Growing Zambia’s capital markets and raising capital for infrastructure and small-scale enterprise development’.
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in partnership with KPMG Zambia Limited held the discussion with the view of raising investment using Zambian capital markets.
“We would like to support LuSE and Zambia’s capital market in a way you see it fit, helping to create a cutting infrastructure and a sustainable, prosperous economy,” he said.
Lord Mountevans said developed capital markets could help Zambia’s long-term financing needs, as they shift investment that facilitates the accumulation of capital and production of goods and services.
“But capital markets do not just allow companies to grow, it’s a question of quality as well as scale.
“Listing transforms fundamentally the way in which business is run, that is, bringing in new efficiencies and allowing for a better return on capital,” Lord Mountevans said.
He said at national level, deep and liquid capital acts as a shock absorber in case of local or global economic problems.
Lord Mountevans said well-developed capital markets help to cushion the country during the financial challenges as capital inflow could be absorbed and the dependency on foreign debt reduced.
SEC board chairperson Chintu Mulendema said Zambian capital markets have remained relatively small in the economic development agenda of Zambia.
Mr Mulendema said in order to sustain investment levels in essential socio-economic infrastructure under the constrained fiscal environment, there was need to increasingly engage the private sector in identifying and appraising projects which were commercially viable to attract private financing.