• Stakeholders to actively participate in the formulation of the Eighth National Development Plan (8NDP).
• Government values the participation and contribution of various stakeholders in the formulation the of national development plans.
• Multi-sectoral contributions would enrich the contents of the 8NDP.
Minister of National Development Planning has urged all stakeholders to actively participate in the formulation of the Eighth National Development Plan (8NDP).
Speaking when he officially opened the National Development Coordinating Committee (NDCC) meeting in Lusaka, Alexander Chiteme said the Government values the participation and contribution of various stakeholders in the formulation the of national development plans.
Mr Chiteme said the multi-sectoral contributions would enrich the contents of the 8NDP.
“In line with the National Planning and Budgeting policy of 2014 and the National Planning and Budgeting Act Number 1 of 2020, Government has commenced the formulation of the Eight National Development Plan (8NDP),” Mr. Chiteme said.
“Currently, the process is at the third phase: the analysis and priority setting. This follows the development of the concept note as well as an issues paper, undertaken in 2020, which constituted the first and second phases, respectively.”
He added that the analysis and priority setting phase will be followed by the drafting and validation phases, which will culminate into the approval of the plan by the national assembly in December 2021.
The Minister said the 8NDP will benefit from the Economic Recovery Programme 2020 – 2023 that His Excellency Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, President of the Republic Of Zambia, recently launched.
He explained that the general macroeconomic framework and targets for the Economic Recovery Programme will feed into the 8NDP.
“The 8NDP and Economic Recovery Programme will be complementary,” Mr. Chiteme said.
Mr. Chiteme encouraged members of the NDCC, Cluster Advisory Groups (CAGs), Provincial Development Coordinating Committees (PDCCs) and District Development Coordinating Committees (DDCCs) to make oral or written submissions when stakeholder consultations on the plan commence.
“The holding of the NDCC meetings demonstrate that despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the business of actualizing the development aspirations of this country must still forge ahead,” he said.
And reviewing the implementation of the Seventh National Development Plan (7NDP), Mr. Chiteme said the year 2020 was the most challenging in the implementation of the 7NDP due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It is no secret that the covid-19 pandemic has caused adverse impacts on our economy which has resulted in loss of employment, income and in some cases, loss of businesses,” the Minister said.
“There has been a reduction in the collection of Government revenue while unforeseen expenditures due to covid-19 increased, for the first time in over 20 years, Zambia experienced an economic contraction now estimated at negative three negative 3% percent and arising from this, our fiscal space reduced further making it hard for Government to implement development Programmes outlined in the 7NDP.”
The Minister said the7NDP was last year re-scoped to prioritize Programmes for inclusion in the 2021 budget.
“Only high impact Programmes and projects should be selected for execution in the spirit of doing more with less and in line with the recently enacted National Planning and Budgeting Act Number.1 of 2020.” Mr. Chiteme said.
