Southern Province Permanent Secretary says the 2019 Provincial Investment and Tourism Exposition is yielding positive results as foreign investors who expressed interest in investing in the Province are ready to honor their pledges.
Mwaangala Liomba told Money FM News in an interview that some of the investors are already in Zambia and that the Provincial Administration has already signed Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) which have already gone to the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry for clearance.
Mr. Liomba stated that all those who pledged 2.1 billion US Dollars of investment in various sectors are coming back to actualize their pledges.
“All the would-be investors who made pledges at the Expo are ready to invest in the Province and some of them are already here in Zambia and others we have already signed Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) and have already gone to the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry for clearance.”
“So I can safely say all of them are ready to invest in the Province and I am also receiving another investor going to Mamba for Coal mining,” Mr. Liomba said.
He said some of the would-be investors are being delayed by the Administration like the one who wants to invest in Coconut plantation in Kazungula district who is still waiting for land acquisition.
“Some are just being delayed by us like the one who wants to invest in Coconut plantation in Kazungula, he is just delayed by the land acquisition. Otherwise he has the money and zeal to invest,” he stated.
The Southern Province Investment and Tourism Expo held from 14th to 21st September 2019 in Livingstone attracted US$2 billion worth of investment pledges in different sectors of the economy which include tourism, mining, agriculture, transport and energy, among others.