• The country did not record much investment flows because of the uncertainty of the debt restructuring deal.
• Most investors were shifting their investments away from the economy.
• With the debt restructuring deal coming in place, the country must see positives in the second half.

An Economist has observed that the country recorded less investment flows in the first half of 2023 due to the uncertainty surrounding debt restructuring.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Emmanuel Zulu noted that there was disinvestment in the last six months because most investors were shifting their investments away from the economy.
Mr. Zulu said as much as the country recorded positives in terms of investment pledges as recently indicated by Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) actualization of investments was not much.
“So the country did not record much investment flows because what we were seeing is that there was disinvestment, most investors were shifting their investments away from the economy because of the uncertainty of the debt restructuring deal.
“So we did not record much in terms of actualization of investments. As much as we recorded positives in terms of pledges but I think actualization we did not do much,” Mr. Zulu noted.
He added that with the debt restructuring deal in place, there will be positives in the second half of the year especially regarding investments, job creation, as well as private sector participation in the economy.
“So I think that with the debt restructuring deal coming in place, we must see positives in the second half especially with regards investments and job creation, and also even the private sector participation in the economy.”
“So in my view, I think that we could have recorded greater growth or bigger numbers even beyond 4 percent but with the actualization of the deal, we could see growth rising at a quite relatively faster rate,” he stated.
Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) recorded 81 investment pledges valued at US$8.6 billion in the first quarter of 2023 compared to US$8.4 billion recorded in 2022.