Zambia has been recently named by governments of Italy and China as one of the main investment destinations in Africa in 2016 that will be benefited with growth in foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows and trade from both countries despite the current global slowdown.
According to Italian Ambassador to Zambia Filipo Scammacca Del Murgo, Zambia has developed a conducive environment for investment that has encouraged Italian companies to explore more sectors for business opportunities and cooperate with the government’s development goals.
The embassy will support the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) to interact with Italian TV stations to train its personnel and deepen the cooperation between both industries, Ambassador Scammacca added.
According to the Italian Embassy in Zambia, since 1998 the balance of trade between Italy and the African country has been steadily growing lead by the products’ diversification undertook by Parmalat S.P.A. (BIT:PLT) that has benefited small-scale milk suppliers.
Meanwhile, the Chinese Ambassador to Zambia Yang Youming in an article published in the Zambia Daily Mail, titled “Chinese economy’s impact on China-Zambia economic relations”, explained that concerns about the growing Zambian balance of trade due to the current economic slowdown might not worry the country.
“Chinese investment abroad is expected to exceed US$500 billion. Chinese imports of Zambian products and investment in Zambia will accordingly continue to expand. At the same time, China plans to increase overseas cooperation in production capacity and equipment manufacturing, which is beneficial for Zambia to speed up its industrialization and urbanization causes” Youming wrote.
FDI outflows from China reached USD 127.6 billion in 2015 up by 10% from USD 116 million in 2014 and up 85% from USD 68.8 billion recorded in 2010, reason why the country is expecting a medium to high growth level in 2016 that represents a great potential for Zambia, Ambassador Youming added.
According to Investment Map, Zambia represents approximately 0.11% of the total FDI outflows from China, , from the USD 500 billion on Chinese investments abroad expected by Ambassador Youming, Zambia would see a huge jump on FDI inflows from China against the USD 75 million recorded in 2010.
