Press Conference

Last week’s State House press conference brought to centre stage a refocus on the economic state of the nation, and the challenges that confront us in 2009.

Key areas reported on, were the nation’s anti-corruption initiatives, the four pillars of the Fifth National Development Plan, and the plight of selected State Enterprises that have traditionally been major players in the economy.

One interesting element of the press conference was the Government’s intention to have two new bills passed in the next session of Parliament, where one of them would entrench the Public–Private-Partnership (PPP) program in the Government service delivery machinery, through the Public Private Partnership Bill.

This initiative opens the door to new opportunities for sincere collaborative efforts between the public sector and the private sector, to build the economy much more rapidly at both infrastructure level and production level. Zambia finds it difficult to exploit the many opportunities that the vast natural resources offer, either due to insufficient infrastructure, or to limited private sector capacity.

The PPP is one mechanism that seeks to address this weakness. Not only can this PPP initiative offer options to develop the nation, but it also goes a long way towards building a national development team, that encompasses the key stake holders who are directly affected by the impact of national decisions.

Another instrument that will be set before Parliament will be the Information and Electronic Technology Bill which hopes to address the ICT challenges and needs that will work in favour of Zambia socio-economic development goals. To this end, the international norms and best practices that are adopted in developed countries may not be appropriate for a developing country such as Zambia. Hopefully, Zambia’s special and developmental ICT needs that will support both social and economic development, will be addressed in an appropriate way so as to enhance the pace and rate of domestic growth with special emphasis on businesses and education.

Typical hurdles faced by Zambia due to international norms, are the frequency allocation bands for various technologies. Zambia does not need to follow a blueprint of a developed economy that has exhausted its frequency allocations on account of thousands of licenses having been issued. Zambia currently offers only a handful of both radio and television stations across the entire country. In addition, many ICT technologies are converging such that television, radio, data, and communications use the same technologies and frequencies unlike in the past where they were distinctly identified and catered for in the frequency allocation matrix.

The expansion of the Lands Tribunal Act through an amendment will be useful for addressing the many issues that come up due to conflicts in land allocation and more recently, due to unauthorized land allocation that has characterized many local councils. The current fights over land deny the country economic and social development, and in many cases, lock land away unused for many years until the disputes are resolved.

The new strategic direction highlighted to by the President placed much emphasis on dialogue with the social sector Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO’s) and the many Faith Based Organizations (FBO’s). Although the government has engaged the Private Sector through the PPP initiative and other programs, continued emphasis must be made to place the private sector at the forefront of development initiatives so that much of the deliberations and resolutions can be taken from the conference rooms and put into practical implementation programs. Zambia has always been labeled as a country where good ideas are conceived and developed, but they are seldom implemented in any meaningful way.

A major element of the press conference was the waving of the yellow card by the President. This exercise was directed to the civil service with particular focus to Permanent Secretaries (PS’s) in the various Ministries. There is a clear link between the commitment of a civil servant to serving the public, and the performance of the particular Ministry in delivering the goods to the public.

Businesses are compelled to interact with various Government Ministries to secure licenses, permits and other resources that enable the businesses to become productive and create both wealth and jobs. A functioning and efficient Civil Service plays a significant role in promoting, supporting and facilitating business activity in any country, and Zambia is no exception.

The challenge to PS’s to either shape up, or ship out, is a fair request. Some restructuring may have to be done to repair the damage to the Civil Service that previous Governments may have done, through the removal of operational rules and regulations that promote a responsive civil service that operates professionally, and outside the political arena.

Zambia will soon be part of the COMESA Customs Union and the quality of our Civil Service, investment environment, and our capacity to engage with our regional neighbours, will be a major factor in profiling ourselves as either a country that will use the Customs Union as a development tool, or become a country that is used in the Customs Union to develop our neighbours.

Part of the acid test now, is to see how much of the press conference information and decisions will be converted into action and results. Every Zambian is a stakeholder, and as such, is responsible for taking some equity in the nation building exercise that is ongoing.

Published 30 June 2009