PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has spoken with France on Zambia’s need to reduce its debt burden in order to clear the path for development.
According to Mr. Hichilema, there is a need to shift the focus away from poverty reduction and toward wealth development, which could help to solve the problems faced by the Least Developed Countries (LDCs).
He has reiterated that poverty primarily affects women, which is why the majority of social programs are designed to raise them.
The President made this statement when he met with Mrs. Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, the Minister of State for Development, Francophonie, and International Partnership in the Government of France, on the margins of the 5th United Nations conference on LDCs.
“We recognized France’s diplomacy and neutrality in the handling of our country’s debt issues as co-Chair of the G 20 Creditor Committee for Zambia. For this we expressed our gratitude.We briefed that we need to change the narrative from poverty reduction to wealth creation. This change in mindset has potential to unlock the challenges LDCs face,” he said.
Mr Hichilema added that it was agreed that the debt overhang should be resolved now than later, so that Zambia can pivot towards transformation through the private sector.
“We also stated that poverty affects our women more. And our social protection programmes are all angled towards women,” he said.
