Seeking for Opportunities for Youths in the Traingle of Hope

Economic Hope through the Triangle of Hope
Currently, the real challenge of investment promotion agencies is being close to investors. They are struggling to be major partners of investors, taking care of their business needs and sustaining their future development plans.

Being close to investors means being able to provide a conducive environment that match investors’ activities. This requires a strong political support. It requires legal, regulatory and institutional reforms necessary in the creation of a conducive investor environment and a myriad of other essentials.

Keeping in conformity with these demands, Zambia has been implementing various sector reforms intended to create a conducive environment for the private sector to thrive. In this regard, recent expenditure frameworks are gravitated towards infrastructure development. These initiatives are meant to create a firm foundation for economic growth for the country by having an improved investment and business environment in Zambia. Among the most prominent of these reforms are the Private Sector Development Programme, Financial Sector Development Plan and the Strategic Action Initiative for Economic Development, commonly referred to as the Triangle of Hope (ToH).

The genesis of the Triangle of Hope dates back to January 2005 when the Zambian government asked the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for help in investment promotion. In agreement, JICA engaged a Malaysian consultant to come up with terms of promoting investment for Zambia under the Action for Africa programme. This gave birth to the Strategic Action Initiatives for Economic Development or simply the Triangle of Hope.

The core of ToH is to assist in the creation of an environment in which the private sector creates more jobs and generate greater wealth in Zambia. The initiative takes after the Malaysian and Far Eastern Experience with economic development. It illustrates how Malaysia, a multi racial nation and basically raw material exporter in the early 1960s was convulsed in racial violence in 1967 and threatened to become another basket case Developing Nation. It brings lessons on how by stint of national unity, political will, civil service efficiency and private sector dynamism the nation within 10 years, Malaysia became the worlds largest exporter of electronic semiconductors and the 3rd largest country in the world exporting room air conditioners.

To bring to effect the Malaysian Miracles, the initiative encourages the creation of a conducive investment and business environment by government for the private sector to increase its levels of investment. The Zambian government committed itself to the parametres of the initiative in trying to increase private sector investment flows. The government thus pledged to provide the required environment for the attainment of the Triangle of Hope targets.

These requirements include the provision of efficient, effective public services and facilities and performance-based and time-bound incentives. This involved private sector reforms like the streamlining of government approval and licencing procedures, and transparent incentives to all prospective investors.

The Triangle of Hope investment promotion initiative employs the Quadrant Strategy to attain the ultimate objective of job and wealth creation. The entry point into the four stages is about putting in place the best investment and business environment through improved policies, streamlined government machinery, rules, regulations, laws and incentives that conform to international best practices. These reforms embrace all government functionaries in order to have well-coordinated investment promotion information packages on the services, facilities and incentives government offers. The strategy is meant to help Zambia offer the competitive advantage that drive down the cost of doing business in the country.

The second stage looks at how government and private sector entities interested in accessing capital through joint ventures or technology and equipment should prepare Project or Business Profiles. Further, government is mandated to develop and implement an investment promotion strategy where the information on available business opportunities in the country will be distributed to investors at home and abroad. And lastly, the Quadrant Strategy mandates government agencies to use knowledge gained on the best practices to facilitate the quick implementation of approved projects through the entire government system from national level to the grassroots level so that jobs and wealth can be created at all levels. This would in turn give businesses in Zambia attain profits in being in a globally competitive environment and thereby contribute to the expansion of the Zambian economy.

The implementation process of the ToH involved the formation of task forces composed of members of the civil service and the private sector. The task forces were mandated to prepare recommendations for cabinet consideration on the creation of favourable business environment. The ToH steering committees that were formed included those for the agriculture, banking and finance, education, health, mining, multi-facility economic zones, micro and small enterprises, among others. The aim for inclusiveness was to generate the sense of belonging by all stakeholders.

The Triangle of Hope has since increased the spirit of collaboration among government agencies and cooperating partners in dealing with programmes that are aimed at improving the environment for doing business in Zambia. Such efforts are expected to stimulate further collaborations in pursuing strategies that make Zambia an all weather investment destination. The private sector development programme has since already dedicated resources for the identification of land banks that will be used for various business purposes. The ToH itself has also been given another lease for three years by JICA having came to an end last year. The net effect of the programme is the creation of business-oriented environment in the country.