• Stakeholders are concerned over low contribution to GDP by manufacturing, mining and agriculture sectors.
• Zambia needs growth at a rapid speed for it to be able to attain Vision 2030.
• The country must attract investment more in the manufacturing sector and grow its industrial base.

An Economist says the country needs to attract investments to key sectors of the economy that can spar growth at a rapid speed.
Speaking in an interview with Money FM News, Emmanuel Zulu said Zambia needs growth at a rapid speed for it to be able to attain Vision 2030 of becoming a middle and prosperous country.
Mr. Zulu stated that the recorded growth in terms of investment pledges and actualization as recently revealed by Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) is elating especially for a country that is aiming for continued growth amidst economic challenges.
He however said stakeholders are concerned over the low contribution to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the manufacturing, mining and agriculture sectors, which is an indicating that the pledges that the country is getting and investment actualization may not be targeted at key economic sectors.
“We actually take note of the nature of investment flows and actualization but we take concern because of the low contribution to the GDP by the manufacturing, mining and agriculture sectors. This can indicate to us that probably the pledges that we are getting and investment actualization may not really be targeted at key sectors so we need to attract investments to key sectors of the economy that can spar growth at a rapid speed.”
“What Zambia needs right now is growth at a rapid speed for it to be able to attain Vision 2030 of becoming a middle and prosperous country. So without that we are not going to achieve that,” Mr. Zulu stated.
And Mr. Zulu said the creation of over 13, 000 jobs out of the over US$800 million actualized investments in the first half of 2023 is a step in the right direction but that what is key is to understand whether the jobs are permanent or temporal.
“With regards to the creation of jobs, we note that we are talking about over 13, 000 jobs created out of the over US$800 million actualized investments, so what is key is also the quality of jobs. As much as we are talking about jobs being created, we also need to look at the quality of jobs, are they permanent or temporal jobs.
“So if we can attract investment more in the manufacturing sector and grow our industrial base, I believe that these are key sectors that can achieve the much needed significant growth. However, we applaud the ZDA for this milestone achievement,” he added.
Recently, ZDA disclosed that it monitored 128 Investment ventures in the first half of 2023, recording actualized investment of US$ 879.4 million and 13, 680 jobs.