Take empowerement funds seriously

By Pelekelo Liswaniso

THE announcement by the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) that it has allocated K10 billion to each province for disbursement this year is most welcome.
This revelation is a definite pointer to Government’s determination to ensure that the policy on citizens’ economic empowerment succeeds.

Already, the commission has approved 61 applications from nine provinces for September 2009 alone. The beneficiary provinces include Lusaka, Eastern, Western, Southern, Luapula, North-Western, Northern, Central and Copperbelt.

With this development, we urge fellow citizens to take the CEEC initiative seriously and prepare themselves to participate in the global economy as Government increases citizens’ access to investments through the CEEC programme.

Since the programme started last year, it is clear that Government wants to increase Zambia’s access to investment so that citizens, including women and the youth, have an opportunity to fully exploit their entrepreneurial abilities in many ways.

The creation of multi-facility economic zones on the Copperbelt and in Lusaka province is, incidentally, another way of empowering the local people in order to uplift their standards of living through job creation.

It is abundantly clear, therefore, that Government is keen to ensure that Zambians fully participate in the economic affairs, at both the national and international levels.

President Banda has repeatedly assured the nation that his Government on its part will continue implementing prudent macro-economic policies to safeguard gains made so far while ensuring that all economic activities benefit the people. The focus for this year is to grow the economy and diversify into various sectors, including agriculture and tourism.

Fair-minded and objective people will agree that so far, the country’s economic, political and social programmes are on the right track. This is evidenced by the positive economic developments which can be seen across the country.

It is with this background that we wish to encourage those who still habour mixed feelings about the CEEC to shake off their fears and anxieties and visit the nearest office in their area for advice on how to access the finances so that they are empowered to participate in national development.

The projects which the CEEC recently approved were mainly in manufacturing, information and communication technology, transport services, education, trading, tourism, agriculture, mining and construction.

This goes to show that the areas of interest are wide and there is room for the general population to engage in many projects of their choice. We, therefore urge members of the public to apply for funds and join other emerging entrepreneurs and get empowered through the CEEC programme.

As prospects for the global economy begin to brighten again, this is the time for Zambians to take advantage of the CEEC instrument and engage in entrepreneurial activity to help grow the national economy.

The notion that only Government is responsible for the growth of the economy is archaic as it does not tally with reality in today’s world.

Growing the national economy should be everyone’s business, especially now that Government has set up this facility that helps equip citizens with financial resources to start business ventures in any sector.CEE Funds are there for the taking. It’s up to citizens to rise to the challenge.