AS Government is striving to stabilize the Kwacha performance against international convertible currencies, it is important to adequately support local manufacturers to mechanize operations with the view to increase production, Buy Zambia Campaign Events Manager James Banda has said.
Mr. Banda told The Scoop that talks of stabilizing the kwacha performance should be based on increasing production of goods that could be exported to bring in the much-needed Dollar.
He observed that local industries have shown the potential to drive Zambia’s economy but lacked capacity in terms of increasing productivity of goods.
He said that implementation of policies by the government that specifically trigger growth of small and medium enterprises involved in value addition should be well monitored to ensure that local industries were growing at expected rates.
“For some time now the Kwacha performance against other convertible currencies has been poor and as a country we have acknowledged that we need to increase production of local products and promote value addition to enhance exportation of goods.
What is needed now is to ensure that local manufacturers are well supported with regard to mechanizing their operations so that they could further produce quality goods in bulk that could be exported,”Mr. Banda said.
Mr. Banda stated that the production of local products in Zambia had been going on well despite the challenges experienced especially for the year 2023 in terms of instability of the Kwacha.
He said it had been rough for the local producers in terms of liquidity and the issue of producers that have to import certain products as it was too expensive to carry on production.
Mr. Banda explained that going forward SMEs should be mechanized in a bid to have them produce adequately for exportation.
He said that revamping all potential industries was key towards stabilizing Kwacha performance and ensuring that many local manufacturers are contributing to the growth of the economy.