By Yemi Akinsuyi
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, Sub-regional Office for Southern Africa (ECA SRO-SA) in collaboration with the University of Zambia’s Department of Economics, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the United Nations Development Programmes (UNDP) delivered a public lecture to economics students, lecturers and other stakeholders on the debt restructuring process still underway in Zambia.
The lecture, under the theme, “Debt restructuring underway, what else is needed to achieve inclusive and sustainable economic growth in Zambia”, aimed to promote student engagement on the implications of the national debt management process, explore the impact of the on-going debt restructuring programme on the country’s economic prospects and promote continuous dialogue amongst partner organizations in an effort to support Zambia’s sustainable and inclusive economic growth.
In his opening remarks, Prof. Jacob Malungo, Dean School of Humanities and Social Sciences applauded the public lecture forum noting that it allows students to listen, engage and debate topical issues on the country’s development and helps strengthen a broader understanding of the implications of these issues.
He thanked the United Nations System for the collaboration in facilitating student engagement on topical issues.
Ms. Beatrice Munthali, United Nations Resident Coordinator speaking on behalf of the UN family in Zambia, concurred with the Dean on the importance of having a platform that helps students to benefit from expert knowledge and called upon the partners to continue in this endeavour and especially ensure that key development issues are interrogated with active student participation.
She noted that, “this is a time to reflect and examine future reforms necessary for economic growth and the lecture came at an opportune moment when the government of Zambia is leveraging the benefits of the restored debt for economic development. It is important to give students a voice on needed changes, transparency, accountability, effective governance and management of external financing”.
The lecture benefitted from two presentations by the IMF on the regional outlook for the Sub Saharan Africa region and by ECA on the prospects for Inclusive growth and sustainable economic growth in Zambia.
The IMF Resident Representative, Mr. Eric Lautier, gave an overview of economic, social, and political trends in Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on how debt restructuring can affect these dynamics. Special emphasis was placed on Zambia’s current economic situation, examining the impacts of debt restructuring on its growth and transformation prospects.
The presentation also discussed additional policy reforms and strategies to support Zambia’s journey towards achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth.
He elaborated on the IMF programme and the role of IMF in supporting the government to restructure the national debt, while ensuring social spending, widening the tax base, revenue projection, debt management and fiscal consolidation.
He emphasised that, “the restructuring programme is a Zambian programme supported by IMF and not an IMF programme”.
Mr. Mzwanele Griffiths Mfunwa, Chief Sub-Regional Initiatives Section and Officer in Charge of SRO-SA discussed the socio-economic development trends in Zambia, focusing on poverty, inequality and unemployment and enumerated the drivers of inclusive and sustainable economic growth in Zambia to include: economic diversification, value addition, promotion of micro small and medium enterprises, effective implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, creation of green jobs and the setting up of transboundary Special Economic Zones, among others.
He advised that to attain sustainable economic growth Zambia needed to, “effectively implement the Zambia National Green Growth Strategy and deliberately redirect benefits of debt restructuring to productive and social sectors to help mitigate poverty and inequality”.
The two presentations were preceded by submissions from two students; Subilo Banda and Lisa Mwiinde, who explained the origins of debt and the role of Zambians in ensuring that the debt restructuring programme is implemented and called on the active involvement of students in holding the government accountable for debts incurred and revenue collection which can help redress the economic challenges.
A question, and answer session allowed participants to field questions to the panel of experts from UNDP, IMF and ECA.
Experts concurred on the need to support micro, small and medium enterprises to facilitate the creation of sustainable jobs, raise incomes and help address inequality.
They called on the IMF to share more information on the support to government and underscored the importance of ensuring that the restructuring process has a human face and protects the most vulnerable Zambians.
