Former Finance Minister Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane has advised the government to engage the Chinese investors to set up manufacturing plants in the country in order to help the growth of the private sector.

Dr. Musokotwane says it would be beneficial if the Chinese investors can go into the mining sector because it requires a lot of capital that few of Zambians can manage to mobilise.

He says Zambians would not mind if some Chinese came in and said they want to set up an assembly plant to manufacture phones, computers and any other ICT equipment, something that requires a lot of capital, global marketing channels, skills so that local people could learn those skills with time.

“What the country is missing from the PF is proper guidance on private sector participation in economic growth. It is ok for members of the private sector to establish relations between themselves and members of any other country but what is missing is the proper guidance from the Government,” he said.

He believes that it is in the interest of the Chinese government itself to be concerned about the amount of debt coming from China into Zambia.

“If they just wholesomely keep on pilling debt in Zambia, then it’s obvious that it won’t be long before Zambia defaults on those loans. And if Zambia defaults on those loans, it won’t be long before there will be political tensions between the two countries and it will not even be long before their own Chinese companies doing business in Zambia will have to pack and go, leaving so many people here without jobs,” he cautions.