Minister Haimbe says Hichilema’s Egypt visit attracted US$500 million in investment pledges

President Hakainde Hichilema’s recent state visit to Egypt has reportedly attracted private investment pledges of close to US$500 million towards setting up two 100MW solar plants in Kafue and Mongu by 2026.

He undertook a state visit to Egypt from February 23 to February 25, 2025, at the invitation of Egyptian President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi.

Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister, Mulambo Haimbe, announnced this in a ministerial statement to Parliament on Tuesday on the state visit to Egypt undertaken by President Hichilema.

Haimbe said the visit underscored Zambia’s commitment to deepening its bilateral and multilateral engagements in line with the aspirations of the 8th National Development Plan (8NDP), Vision 2030, and the Sustainable Development Goals.

He stated that the two Heads of State committed themselves to deepen mutual support in multilateral fora including the AU and COMESA.

Additionally, “The leaders further called for institutionalising dialogue through the establishment of structured Political Consultations, to be held at Ministerial and Senior Officials level on an annual basis,” Haimbe said.

He highlighted that Five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed which included establishment of Political Consultations, cooperation in Agriculture, and cooperation in Plant Quarantine and Phytosanitary Matters.

Others are cooperation in Livestock Development, and technical cooperation on re-development of urban towns and sub- centres in Zambia.

Additionally, during the Zambia-Egypt Business Forum, four infrastructure- focused MoUs were signed, aimed at the construction of critical transport corridors and bridges to unlock trade routes under the Lobito Corridor and beyond, he said.

“The visit further attracted private investment pledges of close to US$500 million, targeting joint venture with Toyota Tsusho and Elsewedy Electric to establish two 100MW solar plants in Kafue and Mongu by 2026.

“Scale-up of the existing ZESCO-Elsewedy partnership for local manufacturing of transformers and prepaid meters, targeting at least 40 percent local subcontracting to build Zambian SME capacity,” Haimbe said.

During the forum, it was agreed for the participation of Arab Contractors in strategic bridge and road infrastructure, with explicit provisions for technology transfer and local skills development.

He said the delegation held technical discussions with Egypt’s Agriculture Research Centre and Veterinary Serum and Vaccine Research Institute, focusing on:

i. Vaccine production for diseases such as FMD, CBPP, Newcastle and Anthrax, with joint research programmes to be rolled out by first quarter of 2026.

ii. Support to Zambia’s smart agriculture ambitions through training in biotechnology, irrigation technologies, and climate-resilient practices.

iii. Capacity building arrangements and scholarships under the Egyptian International Centre for Agriculture, targeting at least 50 Zambian professionals over the next three years.

“The delegation from the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock also explored collaboration with Egypt’s Central Laboratory for Aquaculture Research on genetic improvement and disease management in aquaculture,” Haimbe said.

He said recognising that water was critical to Zambia’s agricultural and industrial aspirations, Ministry of Water Development and Sanitation held bilateral discussions with the Egyptian Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation.

Haimbe noted that the areas of agreed cooperation included water harvesting, recycling and desalination, management of non-revenue water and maintenance of irrigation infrastructure.

“An MoU on Water Cooperation is expected to be finalised by end of 2025, supporting Zambia’s Sustainable Development Goal No. 6 commitments,” he said.

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