Zambia records US$3.3 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) pledges

ZDA acting Director General Florence Mumba says the US$3.3 billion pledge comes with a pledge of eleven thousand employment opportunities.

Ms. Mumba has told QFM news in an interview that the pledged FDI is from 79 applications the agency has received.

She explains that the said pledges reflect an increase in foreign direct investment in 2014 as compared to 2013 during the same period which recorded pledges of US$2.3 billion with pledged employment of eight thousand two hundred out of 84 projects.

Ms. Mumba says the pledge of US$3.3 billion is mainly in the construction sector which accounted for US$3 billion, with the manufacturing sector accounting for US$132 million while other sectors contributed the rest of the FDI.

Ms. Mumba says the increase in FDI in the first quarter of 2014 as compared to the same period in 2013 further explains that regardless of how the economy is performing, increase in FDI is dependent on what the investor is looking for in terms of resources, market and the expected returns.

She has also disclosed that for the projection for the second quarter, the month of April has already recorded US$98 million in FDI pledges with pledged employment of one thousand forty five jobs from 25 projects.

Ms. Mumba says this pledge is in various sectors with the agriculture sector accounting for the biggest contribution.