Diplomatic Dispatch

“Every Zambian must strive to be a good Ambassador” - EL

CONTENTS

A DIPLOMATIC GLANCE AT Hon. SILIYA´S SUNDAY INTERVIEW´

On Sunday, I watched ZNBC´s Grevazio Zulu spar with Chief government spokesperson hon.

Dora Siliya via Facebook in real time.

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have watched the programme and even been a guest several times but what I saw on Sunday in my humble view was insightful and cannot go without a comment if I may say so myself.

My major take-backs were the issue of debt, rising cost of living, economic challenges, as a result of the covid pandemic I like to call the bug, including ofcourse the elephant in the room called agriculture which Ms Siliya in my view executed with military precision, even people like myself with limited economic acumen.

Let me cut to the chase and say hon. Siliya made a sensible case for debt when she said the monies Zambia borrowed were for building roads so that goods and services could be transported efficiently from points of production to points of consumption or

trade including decent housing for service personnel.

The examples she gave about hospitals and energy plants to reduce load shedding because there was a deficit in the past, I think need no belabouring.

But the issue I found more interesting as a student of economic diplomacy and international relations practitioner was the Cyber bill currently before Zambia´s parliament.

THE MAN WHO NAILED JELLO TO THE WALL It reminded me of the story about “The Man who nailed jello to the wall,” some 20 odd years ago in China.

In case you missed it, the Chinese Cyber Minister or internet Tzar back in the day at the birth of the internet raised concern that the internet was like fast moving reckless car on a highway cruising without breaks—it was harmful in needed to be slowed down or controlled.

The President of the United States then Bill Clinton laughed and said, “good luck with that, that's sort of like trying to nail jello to the wall.”

More than 16 years later, however, a story I read in Foreign Policy read that Mr. Lu Wei, China's internet czar who led the Central Leading Group for Cyberspace Affairs, China's internet regulator hit breaks on the internet. It is tamed in China.

Ms Siliya in the Sunday Interview making the case for cyber laws was quite categorical that the cyber bill before parliament is aimed at “slowing down” the bullying currently prevalent on the Zambian media social space, protect individual rights including the rights of children that could come into harm from cyber criminals.

THE CASE OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT The laws shall punish only offenders like all laws.

I think she has a point because those that commit crimes, that troll others on the internet often have no regard of the consequences of their vitriol to the many families they harm.

They don't consider the rights or feelings of the husbands, children and other family members they troll on the internet as they hide behind the veil of the internet, the head of state is no exception.

I must know the pain because my eight-year-old son Lushomo whom I think the world of has been called vile names on my personal Facebook page by cowards and the only crime he committed is being my innocent son.

It´s time therefore that the Edgar Lungu government must put “breaks” to the vitriol that has potential of harming families, scorch the earth and gaslight our historically serene nation. Remember Rwanda.

WE ONLY HAVE ONE ZAMBIA Zambia a great country that has enjoyed peace and stability, love and unity and respect for fellow citizens for more than 55 years but the peace is for us to nurture as President Lungu recently pointed out in his national address.

The discourse to me struck the right cord because international, the discourse is rising that “unsustainable debt” for countries such as Zambia should be forgiven so that we can start afresh, like Europe did for the EU and the Americans did after the depression.

Debt takes away money from buying medicine for children and mothers in hospitals to oil the already rich. I know someone will say “you borrowed so you must pay back,” but at what expense? Killing the goose that lays the golden egg is never the best M.O for any good business but then am just spit-balling here given the fact that debt has been forgiven in the past.

At the end, Ms Siliya´s conversation boiled down to the bull in the china store—Covid that has crippled the global economy, Zambia included.

The bug has ground airplanes, docked ships forced mines to close, restaurants and bars have not been left unscathed including government coffers slashed and social responsibilities either suspended or halted.

As a diplomat I think its important to constantly have the Minister of Information answer some tough questions in order to put things into proper perspective because after all in the absence of water, people will drink Sunday.

Oh by the way I can't conclude my takebacks on Ms. Siliya v Zulu interview without noticing agriculture, as a business under the Lungu diversification call was broadly discussed.

I always say as a diplomat I am an incurable romantic that mostly wants to see the glass called Zambia as half full not half empty.

With more that 50 percent of the population being youthful and vast tracts of arable land and good weather, we must get our agriculture hands dirty and feed the continent.

Mazel tov Minister let us have more issue-based discussions on our national TV as the bug continues to be among us.

TO DEBT OR NOT TO DEBT Minister Siliya touched on another issue close to the hearts of Zambians, that is as old as the nation—debt.

She presented it well in my view when she pointed out why Zambia borrowed, for production and not consumption.

The author H.E Anthony Mukwita of this personal essay inspired by Sunday Interview is the Ambassador of Zambia to the Federal Republic of Germany who has a keen interest in Economic Diplomacy.

AFRICAN UNION HONOURS PRESIDENT EDGAR LUNGU FOR HIS EFFORTS ON IMPLEMENTATION OF AfCFTA

THE African Union in collaboration with AE Trade Group and the Africa Business Association, have honoured Zambia's President, His Excellency Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu with an appreciation award.

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he award is in recognition of the efforts and work done by President Lungu in realising the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Zambia's Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, Mr. Emmanuel Mwamba received the award on behalf of President Lungu at a Ceremony held in Addis Ababa.

And after he received the award on behalf of President Lungu, Mr. Mwamba said President Lungu led concerted efforts to ensure that broad consultation were done on the AfCFTA amongst stakeholders.

He said President Lungu also ensured that Cabinet approved the trade agreement and was later ratified

by Parliament.

The appreciation Awards Ceremony was held on Friday, 26th February 2021 for African Heads of State and Government whose countries have so far ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement commemced on 1st January 2021.

The AfCFTA offers African businesses and investors the ability to conduct ninety (97) percent of their trade, tariff free.

Yje AfCFTA will create a combined GDP of over $2 trillion and offers a lucrative market of about 1.3billion people.

Mr. Mwamba said Zambia's accession to the Agreement reaffirmed its commitment to continental integration, to the implementation of the African Union Agenda 2063, so that Africa could reap maximum benefits, such as creation of employment for the youths from the implementation of the AfCFTA. Issued by; Mrs. Inutu Mupango Mwanza First Secretary (Press &Tourism) Addis Ababa Ethiopia Approved by Ministry of Foreign Affairs

BRACE FOR GLOBAL ECONOMIC IMPACT AS COVID BITES

The economic fortunes of the globe, and those of Zambia do not look good for next month or next year due to the adverse effects of the coronavirus according to experts.

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evelopments in Beijing, Berlin and Washington will inevitably dictate how Zambia eventually completes 2021 as you and I grapple with the dilemma of the bug.

RISING INFLATION IN THE E Y E O F T H E BUG´INFLATEGATE´ Zambia, our beautiful country has not experienced this (current) rapid rise in inflation in a straight five months period in the last five years, until the pandemic slowed down the entire global economic machine.

To d a y w e ´ r e a l l g l o b a l economic citizens and like dominoes, when one falls in Washington and Beijing, Lusaka catches a cold too.

Double digit inflation is something we are not used to but it's something we might have to grudgingly live with for a while, as the bug rages on and the bat keeps flying a w a y .

A February analysis in The Economist, the Zeitgeist of economic publications in my

view gives some insight regarding what to expect on the global economic f r o n t .

T h e Economist says “high inflation” may emerge as a huge issue during the pandemic at the start of 2021 and beyond.

A headline article in The Economist starts by pointing attention to how the eurozone inflation rose at its fastest pace in five years due to the pandemic to America where, “some economists fear President Joe Biden's planned $1.9trillion stimulus, that includes $1,400 cheques for most Americans (poor) struggling to survive, may overheat the economy once vaccines allow service industries to reopen fully and affect inflation.”

A global inflationary dawn is looming and we must prepare for it and come up with copping measures as global c i t i z e n s .

In Zambia we are less economically equipped compared to those in the eurozone, America or China that ca print money despite facing the same challenges of illness and fatalities as a consequence of the bug.

H o w e v e r, w e a r e m o r e blessed to come out of the bug cesspool a better country and continent in my personal view and also based on my romanticism approach to life.

OUR SUNSHINE, YOUTH LAND, OUR STRENGTH As a diplomat, I see our collective perceived weaknesses as a major collective strength we can weaponize to attract investment in organic food, which is scarce and expensive

in the eurozone, America and China moving forward.

As the adage goes, “they thought they had buried me but did they not know I was a seed,” so must go the continent. We must rise above the ashes of the b u g .

Me myself, personally, I won´t stop touting our 11.8 million square land largely arable as COMESA, the largest economic group in Africa with almost 1 billion people, mostly youths with a combined GDP of about $ 1 b i l l i o n .

The AFDB and local banks could come up with a cluster or grants and soft loans for youths to invest in agriculture, IT etc because we must put our money where our mouths are and not wait for a foreign saviour.

If memory serves me right, we have not risen to the goat and swine challenge for the UAE and China yet or have, we?

THE CHINA POSITIVE F A C T O R China, the largest consumer of pork globally was last year set to eat about 40.3 million tons of pork, they are the largest pork producers on earth, but what they produce is not enough for their consumption needs.

Can you imagine if Zambia exported just 1 million metric tonnes of pork to China given the friendship we enjoy as part of a covid relief deal?

We could be laughing all the w a y t o t h e b a n k .

We have a beautiful country well endowed with arable land and a great climate we must weaponize for the future and escape the throes of poverty after the covid pandemic.

The bug killed about 500, 000 people in America at the time I penned this essay, reportedly the largest number of fatalities that country has recorded surpassing two world wars and the i n f a m o u s Vi e t n a m w a r .

In Zambia, a combination of good leadership management

and luck has helped us keep the numbers low below 1000 fatalities but the damage to the e c o n o m y r e m a i n s i n s u r m o u n t a b l e .

Lets use the weak position the bug has forced us to negotiate better economic deals for the future generation.

ENTER THE NEWS OF THE VACCINE Its heartening to note that its not all gloom and doom because various vaccines are now being administered and Zambia might get one under the COVAX initiative on Cabinet approval.

Under COVAX, at least 1.3 billion COVID-19 doses or vaccines will be made available to 92 lower income economies by the end of 2021, Zambia included according to reports.

Let the bug be the pandemic that saved us not the one that ended our life as we know it.

The author H.E Anthony Mukwita of this personal essay inspired by Sunday Interview is the Ambassador of Zambia to the Federal Republic of Germany who has a keen interest in Economic Diplomacy.

WE NEED MORE LOCAL ENTREPRENEURS

Zambia's Ambassador to Germany, His Excellency Mr. Anthony Mukwita says the country needs more local entrepreneurs in order to expand the indigenous private sector and expand the economy.

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The more local players we can get to oil the Zambian economic machinery the better for us," said Ambassador Mukwita, "we should not rely on foreign investment alone but mix the two."

Ambassador Mukwita says with an increase in the number of local entrepreneurs, the banking sector will see more savings and more liquidity available in

the economy for further investment.

The Zambian envoy made the remarks when he met Mr Stefan Henkelmann and Markus Tacke of the German Association of Savings Banks known locally as the Sparkassenstiftung.

Mr. Henkelmann is responsible for the Africa region while Mr. Tacke is expected to arrive in Zambia on the 16th of March to take his new position as the regional director responsible for the organization's

projects in Zambia, Malawi and Namibia.

Sparkassenstiftung begun its work in Zambia when it joined and supported efforts by the Bank of Zambia when the Central Bank embarked on financial literacy, a concept through which participants learned the art of saving and investment.

Since then, the German-based organization has trained over a 100trainers who have gone on to train over 17000 participants who are involved in a variety of entrepreneurial activities.

“The training includes how to write a balance sheet; how to write a project proposal in a way that banks understand them and how to run a business profitably”, Mr. Henkelmann said.

Training has taken place in every one of the country's ten provincial centers include some districts with plans for expansion to different districts underway.

Now Sparkassenstiftung will be coordinating its projects in both Malawi and Namibia from Zambia where regional offices have been established.

The regional office comes at a time when the government of President Edgar Lungu is seeking a rapid expansion of the economy by constructing

the infrastructure necessary to support trade as well as local and foreign direct investment.

To encourage local entrepreneurship, the Lungu government has reformed the Citizen Economic Empowerment Commission, CEEC, which makes available to citizens loans to support local business ventures across a variety of sectors.

In addition, government continues to expand skills training centers and trade schools around the country to facilitate the development of local entrepreneurship.

Recently, government announced yet another initiative intended to encourage the growth of local entrepreneurship when it announced that 30% of contracts given for infrastructure development shall be offered to local people.

The companies decision to establish its regional headquarters in Zambia is a show of confidence of the stability of Zambia as a business base said Ambassador Mukwita.

STAND BY EACH OTHER ALWAYS

Zambia´s Ambassador to Germany H.E Anthony Mukwita has implored Zambians in Germany to stand by each other, not just in good times but in bad times too.

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mbassador Mukwita was speaking when he attended the funeral of Gerald Kontreff korntreff, a German national married to a Zambian woman Audrey Mwape Korntreff who died recently after

an illness aged 61.

“Gerald was with us always smiling and jovial either at a birthday party at our house or during a national event such as independence day so will miss him greatly,” Ambassador Mukwita said.

The senior envoy described Kontreff as a “real diplomat” for having travelled across the continent to find a wife and friend in Zambia therefore ´tighten´ further, relations between Zambia and Germany that are more than 55 years old.

In her eulogy, Audrey the widow recalled fondly how, “Gerald always told me that I needed to be independent in order to have a better life. I miss your

ever present and I know that no one can ever take your place.”

Korntreff who was recently cremated is survived by children, Stephan and Mapalo and was seen off by members of staff from the embassy, members of his family and well-wishers.

Ambassador Mukwita and diplomats at the embassy often attend events or support Zambians in German as the envoy believes Zambians in Germany are the countries biggest and most vital diplomats.

The funeral was held under the strict guidelines of covid which stipulates the wearing of masks and social distancing, which is faithfully adhered to in Germany, currently under lockdown with freezing temperatures of minus 2 degrees, ice and snow.

There are officially about 580 Zambians in the entire Germany

ZDA JOINS CALLS FOR GERMANY TO RAMP UP INVESTMENT IN ZAMBIA

The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has called on German investors to explore the vast investment opportunities in the country.

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DA made the appeal during a German Zambia Business We b i n a r d u b b e d ' D o i n g Business in Zambia' held on February 12th 2021.

Presenting Zambia's trade and investment opportunities, ZDA Acting Manager Investment Promotion Samson Simwanda explained that Zambia and Germany had been doing business with each other from time immemorial.

“Zambia has been importing machinery, data processing and electric equipment, vehicles, chemicals, oil and gas, metals, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, agricultural products among others,” Mr. Simwanda disclosed.

He revealed that between 2015 and 2020, Zambia imported goods worth USSD 423, 533 from Germany and only exported USSD9, 651 during the same period.

Mr. Simwanda urged German Investors to consider investing in the manufacturing, agriculture, energy, tourism and infrastructure sectors as they were considered Zambia's priority sectors.

He urged German investors to consider investing in cage farming on Lakes Meru and Bangweulu where five sites had already been identified and land for processing and storage facilities had been reserved.

Mr Simwanda cited the processing of minerals such as Copper, Cobalt, Gemstones, Gold and the

manufacturing of agricultural equipment as some of the opportunities available in mining.

“In the energy sector, there are opportunities in solar energy projects, geo-thermal plant, biofuel energy projects and petroleum products,” he explained.

Mr Simwanda explained the incentives available in the priority sectors.

He said Zambia was an ideal investment destination due to its central location and increased market access due to membership to the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and its recent endorsement of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AFCFTA).

And speaking during the same webinar, Zambia's Ambassador to Germany Anthony Mukwita assured German investors that their investments were safe in Zambia explaining that government through ZDA issued investment guarantees and securities to protect investments.

Mr. Mukwita encouraged German investors to invest in Zambia saying the country had a stable political system since independence in 1964.

Ambassador Mukwita added that investors coming to Zambia would be looking at tapping into COMESA, the largest trading group in Africa with a GDP of almost US$1billion and a population of just over half a billion people.

Source: ZDA

DO NOT LET COVID-19 DISCOURAGE YOU… COME AND INVEST IN ZAMBIA – MUKWITA

Zambia's Ambassador to Germany, His Excellency, Mr. Anthony Mukwita has called on the business community in Germany not to be discouraged by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic but instead invest in Zambia.

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mbassador Mukwita said as a member of one of the largest regional

economic blocs, the 21member Common Market for East and Southern Africa, COMESA, Zambia provides some of the best investment prospects on the African continent.

“Coming to Zambia means

coming to the huge COMESA market that has an equally huge youthful population and 365 days of sunshine. Come and invest in agriculture and feed the world”, He said.

The Zambian envoy was

speaking at the opening of a onehour webinar discussion on investing in Zambia organized by the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry known by its German acronym – DIHK. Ambassador Mukwita used the occasion to pay tribute to the German government for its contribution of over 28 million dollars to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in Zambia. He also expressed gratitude to the Association of German Chambers of Commerce, through the webinar convenor and moderator Heiko Schwiderowski, for dedicating time and resources specifically to discussing investment opportunities in Zambia.

Among the speakers was German's Ambassador to Zambia Her Excellency Anne Wa g n e r - M i t c h e l l . I n h e r remarks, Dr. Wagner-Mitchell noted the economic challenges Zambia was facing that included a debt burden and the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

She noted with optimism that the Zambian government led by President Edgar Lungu has demonstrated commitment to

the resolution of the challenges as may be seen in the recently launched Economic Recovery Program, ERP. The German Ambassador said the ERP held out hope for Zambia with its clear deliverables and timetable for implementation. However, Ambassador Wagner-Mitchell expressed concern at policy implementation processes in Zambia which she said must be improved if the country has to realize the full benefits of the current economic recovery program.

The webinar discussion included representatives of the German economy in Zambia and the Zambia Development Agency among others. It also included the CEO of Amatheon, Carl Bruhn, one of the largest German investors in the Zambian economy. This was one of the first high level business forums held this year under the cloud of covid-19.

Increasingly, more and more business meetings are now being conducted through information and communication technologies as the new normal.

Noting that the pandemic may

be around for some time to come, the government of President Lungu has opened the country to investors, tourists and visitors as long as they adhere to public health measures set up to control the spread of the coronavirus.

It is one of the measures government has established to keep the economy afloat and avoid a total shut down which could irreparably damage the country's economic life.

EVERY ZAMBIAN MUST STRIVE TO BE A GOOD AMBASSADOR …as part of patriotism says President Lungu in national address

By the time you read these lines, President Edgar Lungu´s national address to parliament on ´values´ would have been shared more than a dozen times given the speed at which information is moving in the new technological era.

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a l f t h e President´s message will be a c c u r a t e depending on w h o i s disseminating it while the other might be a total distortion as with all messages once they leave the original communication vessel.

As a diplomat, however, a number of issues caught my attention as they speak directly to what I do as a country representative of Zambia abroad.

Nothing reverberated more to me as a diplomat in the Presidents short speech like the following: We must all aspire to be good Ambassadors of Zambia on one level or another Zambia is the only country we can call our own regardless of our political, ethnic or regional affiliations Buy Zambia and build Zambia One Zambia One nation and aspire for being Proudly Zambian Speak well of Zambia to attract investment

The above is contained in President Lungu´s address, albeit not in the same order, as I followed it live on my car radio on the way to an early morning webnar meeting at the embassy.

We are an hour behind Zambia in Berlin plus its dreary cold, snowing and biting minus 5 degrees now so hearing a vociferous voice of my President on online radio is heartwarming.

President Lungu spoke an infallible truth when he said, “here´s the deal, whether you belong to the opposition or

ruling party, we both have but one country—Zambia” to have and to hold, lets treat it well its all we have got.

This places a huge burden on all of us, not just a few of us that are representing Zambia in foreign missions to speak well of our country remaining cognizant always that no country on the globe is perfect. We must embrace our country with all its perfect imperfections.

GOODWILL BEGETS GOODWILL BEGETS GOODWILL FOR ZAMBIA

Damning your country to strangers is tantamount to setting your own house on fire and expecting neighbours to help you put out the fire.

Someone once said when it comes to being “good Ambassadors”, Americans are the best because they can harshly criticise their country in their country and defend it to the last drop of blood abroad.

That spirit I admire among the people from ´the land of the brave,´ which is not perfect just like ours.

Zambia continues to shine as a beacon of hope, peace and stability, whether it was during a smooth transition of power after an election or a smooth continuation, this gives us diplomatic credentials above many on the continent.

The magnet that continues to attract others especially in the west to tell others on the continent, “be like Zambia”.

ARE THE CREDENTIALS U N D E R T H R E AT I N ZAMBIA?