Fully developed manufacturing sector an economic boost – Stanbic

BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes@SunZambian STANBIC Bank Zambia is committed to work with the local manufacturers and other stakeholders in accelerating the country’s economic diversification through value addition.Zambia cannot attain its growth targets if stakeholders fail to grow the manufacturing sector as this is one of the most important sectors of any economy, says Bank Chief Financial […]

Fully developed manufacturing sector an economic boost – Stanbic
BUUMBA CHIMBULU writes@SunZambian STANBIC Bank Zambia is committed to work with the local manufacturers and other stakeholders in accelerating the country’s economic diversification through value addition.Zambia cannot attain its growth targets if stakeholders fail to grow the manufacturing sector as this is one of the most important sectors of any economy, says Bank Chief Financial Officer, Mwindwa Siakalima.Mr Siakalima said his bank was therefore prepared to work with the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) and other stakeholders to accelerate the country’s economic diversification through value addition.He was speaking during the Anakazi Banking Online Conversations discussing the topic “Insights from the Zambia Association of Manufacturers in navigating the post Covid – 19 world.”“A fully developed manufacturing sector would not only boost the country’s revenue stream and create sustainable employment, but it would also help shore up national Forex reserves through exports thus help support the local currency,” Mr Siakalima said.He regretted that Zambia had always been an import dependent economy and therefore unable to implement a full lockdown despite the rising Covid-19 cases.Mr Siakalima said the inadequacies of an import dependent economy stretched beyond dire medical repercussions.He said these kinds of economies typically had low levels of industrialisation, which in turn effects their export earnings and Gross Domestic Product growth and that Zambia was no exception.“The Covid-19 outbreak has ruthlessly exposed this weakness in that we are unable to go into a full lockdown despite the rising cases due to a severe lack of adequate self-reliance in terms of value addition – essentially denying the country one of the most useful tools in combating the deadly disease,” he said.ZAM president Ezekiel Sekele, said financial institutions were well positioned to take a leading role in driving Zambia’s industrialisation agenda.Mr Sekele, who is also Zambian Breweries Plc Corporate Affairs Director noted that Covid-19 had injected the necessary energy for the country to prioritise self-reliance in terms of value edition.“The silver lining of this pandemic is that we have seen a marked growth in local sourcing as cross border trading is slowed by the virus. Local sourcing is cardinal in growing a sustainable manufacturing industry,” he said. The Sun