BY MELODY MWALA
Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) from various parts of Africa and beyond, Wednesday converged at Lusaka’s Intercontinental Hotel to discuss investment facilitation, creation of new synergies and the need to uncover new opportunities and help shape the future of infrastructure on the global scale.
The High level platform whose mission is to ensure an economically advanced Africa where public and private sector leaders and corporate citizens are a dynamic force in the global arena, took the opportunity to promote the need for the provision of the platform for CEOs to champion economic development across Africa through peer-to-peer engagement, smart partnerships, capacity building networks, investment facilitation and policy dialogue.
Experts who included Zambia Association of Manufacturers President Ashu Sagar, Zambia Chamber of Mines CEO Dr. Sokwani Chilembo, Economist and Banker Noel Nkhoma and Director, Real Estate Investment Zambia PLC Mark O’donnel among others, were at hand to urge the private sector to take up the mantle and not leave everything to government.
In his presentation, Sagar gave an example of the drought which has ravaged the country prompting President Hakainde Hichilema to declare a national disaster which he said should have been avoided had the private sector taken the lead in handling the crisis.
He said there are lessons to be drawn from the drought which include the need to harness opportunities to handle the crisis.
Sagar also called for the need to also embrace other sectors than concentrating on the mining sector alone despite it being the country’s mainstay.
And Chamber of Mines CEO Dr. Chilembo said the mining sector needed policy stability for its growth.
He said Zambia being the world’s eighth-largest Copper producer entails the need for consistent growth of its mining sector for it to remain competitive on the global stage.
During the same presentation, Economist and Banker, Nkhoma said urged the CEOs not to limit themselves as they have the capacity to address several situations for the betterment of the country.
He cited the current electricity situation currently affecting the country which he said had been left to the President to resolve when the private sector could easily come in.
On the same electricity situation, Director, Real Estate Investment Zambia PLC Mark O’donnel said the reason why the country is currently experiencing load-shedding is because the energy sector has remained neglected for a long time.
He urged the private sector not to always rely on government but stand up and mobilise capital and ensure the sector is back to its wheels.
CEO Africa Round Table is a high-level platform for Corporate Chief Executive Officers and Senior Executives, in both public and private sectors created to stimulate cross fertilization of critical economic and business knowledge in and around Africa.
