Over 8,000 jobs created in Zambia’s MFEZ by Chinese enterprises, reveals expert

More than 8,000 jobs have been created by the Chinese enterprises at two economic zones in Zambia.

The jobs have been created at the Chambishi Multi-Facility Economic Zone (MFEZ) situated in Chambishi town in the Copperbelt Province and another zone situated in Lusaka, the country's capital.

Steven Lindunda, Corporate Affairs Manager at the Zambia-China Economic and Trade Corporation Zone (ZCCZ), said 41 companies have invested at the economic zone in Chambishi while 10 have invested in Zambia's capital Lusaka. "As at December 31, 2018, 51, mostly Chinese companies have invested in various sectors in the two facilities in Chambishi and Lusaka with a total investment of USD 2 billion," he opined, as reported by Xinhua.

In a conversation with Xinhua, Steven Lindunda said that ZCCZ has invested a total of 200 million U.S. dollars in infrastructure development at the two economic zones. According to him, the development came after the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation summit was held in China in September last year, where about 12 companies expressed interest to invest in the zones.

Lindunda further added that ZCCZ was also holding discussions with the Zambian government on how best it could contribute to the enhancement of new investments in the zones by lowering electricity tariffs. Finally, he mentioned that many companies are interested in investing in the zones but are being discouraged by high electricity tariffs as well as lack of tax holidays for investors in the economic zones.