Amb.Lombe says Zambia supports the common position for equitable representation in International organizations

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Permanent Secretary for International Relations and Cooperation, Amb. Chalwe Lombe says Zambia supports the common position for equitable representation in International Organizations such as the African Union (AU), by Diramakini Reporter (Addis Sababa).Speaking during the virtual meeting organized by the Zambia Embassy in Addis Ababa with the Permanent Representatives to the AU to seek support for Commissioner Albert Muchanga, currently AU Commissioner for Trade and Industry and Zambia’s candidate for the AU position of Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry and Mining for the term 2021-24, Amb. Lombe said the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic presented an opportunity for Africa to urgently attain inclusive sustainable development in Africa spurred by the sectors of Trade, Industry and Mining.

He said Zambia fully supported and rallied behind the candidature of Commissioner Albert Muchanga for re-election as AU Commissioner as he had worked extremely hard and delivered significant results during the last four (4) years when he served as Commissioner for Trade and Industry, overseeing one of the critical flagship projects of Agenda 2063, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) from negotiation to launching the start of trading on 1st January, 2021.

Amb. Chalwe Lombe noted that Commissioner Muchanga was a seasoned Diplomat who was well qualified in the field of Economics and organizational development with vast leadership and management experience spanning over forty years in economic policy formulation and implementation at national, regional, continental and international levels.

Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union, Emmanuel Mwamba said Commissioner Muchanga was a dedicated and hard-working Commissioner, who worked very well with Member States and will fit in the reformed Commission and contribute to promoting culture change that is crucially required to ensure that the African Union reform commitments of the Heads of State and Government are internalized by all officials working in the Commission.

And AU Commisisoner for Trade and Industry, Albert Muchanga said if re-elected, his priority will be building internal capabilities to achieve structural transformation of African economies and place them on a path of rapid and inclusive development.

He said the major constraint to inclusive development was that many African economies were in underdevelopment and middle –income traps. He said those in Least Developed Country status were finding it difficult to graduate to Middle Income Status, while the same could be said about countries finding it difficult to graduate from Middle income to Developed Country Status.

He emphasized the need for mobilization of the private sector in Africa to drive growth of manufacturing if member states were to benefit from the AfCFTA. Commissioner Muchanga also urged Governments to increase research and Development as well as promoting the growth of research universities, elimination of financial flows from Africa and deepening Africa’s economic integration within the framework of implementing the African Union Agenda 2063.

The Ambassador and Permanent Representative for Gabon commended the Commissioner for this initiative and prominence of industrialization.

The Ambassador and Permanent Representative for the Arab Republic of Egypt thanked Zambia Embassy for organizing the Webinar and commended Commissioner Muchanga for the successes recorded in the establishment of AfCFTA. He urged Commissioner Muchanga to ensure there was capacity development for staff in the Commission, to improve productivity.

The Ambassador and Permanent Representative for Angola said Commissioner Muchanga had made impressive achievements in the first term and needed support for re-election.

Commissioner Muchanga who has previously served as Zambia’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the AU, Zambia’s Ambassador to Brazil and Deputy Executive Secretary of SADC, has previously held key positions in the Government of Zambia which include among others: As Permanent Secretary for Parliament Business in Office of the Vice President; Deputy Permanent Secretary for European Affairs and Development Cooperation and Director for International

Organizations at Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Director for Domestic Trade at the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry; Director for Tourism at the Ministry of Tourism and Art; Counsellor for Economic Affairs and Minister Counsellor at Zambia’s Permanent Mission in New York, USA and Principal Economist, Senior Economist and Economist/ Economic Planner at the National Commission for Development Planning.