Delegations Meet Over Zambia-Germany Development Partnership
A delegation from Zambia has met with representatives from the German government in Berlin in order to discuss the conditions of international cooperation for the period 2023-2024.
The two countries first established diplomatic relations in the 1960s and Germany has remained an important development partner since then.
Zambia’s delegation leader Felix Nkulukusa thanked Germany for the “significant support” it provides Zambia to the government’s 8th National Development Plan through agencies such as the Germany International Agency for International Development. While the German delegation was keen to emphasise its support for Hichilema’s attempts to increase accountability and transparency.
Germany proved an important partner during the global pandemic. The delegation was particularly keen to acknowledge the 30 million euro grant support package Germany provided to support the provision of clean water, sanitation, emergency cash transfers and effective governance during the knock-on effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Nkulukusa, who also serves as Secretary to the Treasury, thanked the Germans for their support for the government’s efforts to strengthen transparency, accountability, and the decentralisation agenda. The German government have supported aspects of public procurement and fiscal and administrative decentralisation. The eighth-national development plan seeks to boost transparency and accountability not only across the next five years of its implementation but also into the future.
Last week, State House confirmed, for example, that reforms to the Information Acts are set to be tabled in the new year. This move responds to calls from civil society organisations to allow freedom of information regarding the data held by public bodies. The move, it is hoped, will increase the ease with which citizens and media can hold public bodies to account and increase public trust in the wake of the corruption and mismanagement scandals of the previous administration.
In the budget for the coming year, German support has indirectly facilitated the increased funding for the Constituency Development Fund in order to bring vital resources into the hands of local actors who can enact change for their constituents.
Germany is not the only European partner with an important impact on Zambian development. The government recently signed a £1 billion green growth compact with the UK in order to achieve its goals of providing universal access to electricity and other key development goals whilst remaining within the boundaries of Zambia’s climate pledges.
Reflecting on the state of global trade and cooperation, the Zambian delegate noted the increased strain the war in Ukraine has placed on African economies but thanked Germany for its continued commitment and in fact for raising its financial commitments from 46.8 million to 77 million euros in the next cycle.
German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development, Svenja Schulze, also welcomed the close partnership between the two and the efforts of Hichilema’s government. “This is the first time I am able to welcome representatives of your new Government, which came into office a year ago…” “We value your Government’s commitment to democracy, human rights and accountability and are happy with the progress made towards an enhanced civic space, freedom of speech and assembly, freedom of the media, and a reduction in the influence of political cadres,” she also expressed her pleasure in hearing Hichilema intends to follow a zero-tolerance policy on corruption. “Germany is keen to assist you in your ambitious reform agenda through its development cooperation,” Minister Schulze told the Zambian delegation.
Image via Lusaka Times