Ms Jenny Hill, Head of Office, Counsellor and Consul of the High Commission of Canada and Mr Calvin Chitangala, Investment and Project Manager at Renew Capital paid a courtesy call on the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) Director General Albert Halwampa. Mr. Halwampa welcomed Ms Hill and Mr. Chitangala to the Agency and gave a brief outline of the Agency mandate which was to promote and facilitate investment, trade and business development. The Director General added that the Agency promotes the export of Zambia’s Non-Traditional Exports by building the capacity of exporters by providing export readiness training and linking them to export markets by facilitating their participation in regional and international trade fairs and exhibitions. The Director General expressed gratitude to the Canadian government, through the Trade Facilitation Office, for the support that has been rendered to the Agency in building the capacity of women-led companies and linking them to export markets. The Director General called for more support to enable Zambia’s companies to meet the technical barriers to trade.

Ms Hill thanked the Director General for the warm welcome and informed him that while trade between Zambia and Canada was low, the Canadian government was interested in Zambia and was willing to support Zambia’s regional integration agenda. She stated that there were a number of trade capacity-building programmes that the Canadian government offers through the United Nations Agencies that the country could access. She further indicated that the Canadian government was supporting another trade facilitation programme called Accelerating Regional Business Growth (ARBG), which was being implemented by Renew Capital.

Mr Calvin Chitangala informed the Director General and his team that the Government of Canada and Renew Capital signed a seven-year partnership to strengthen regional economic integration in Eastern Africa. In this regard, the Accelerating Regional Business Growth (ARBG) aims to provide technical assistance training and mentorship to exporters. By the end of its seven-year duration, ARBG will operate in seven cities in Africa, which includes Lusaka. In addition, ARBG seeks to create 12,000 jobs, at least 50% of which are for women; facilitate $175 million Canadian Dollars (USD 128.64 million of private capital into growth-oriented businesses; facilitate $125 million Canadian Dollars (USD 91.89) in regional trade; and support 150 businesses. In order to achieve this, Renew Capital was in the process of developing a country-specific programme for Zambia and was in this regard seeking to work in collaboration with the Zambia Development Agency.

Mr. Halwampa welcomed the programme as it would complement the Agency’s efforts in promote exports and called on the two parties to negotiate and sign a Memorandum of Understanding that would provide a structured platform for collaboration. He pledged the Agency’s support for the programme and to ensure that the intended beneficiaries got the benefits.