By 
President Hakainde Hichilema has called on newly appointed diplomats to Zambia to engage the Zambian government through dialogue rather than the media, and to encourage investors from their countries to invest in Zambia.
He reminded African diplomats of the need to boost Africa-to-Africa business and investment partnerships.
Hichilema made the remarks at State House in Lusaka on Tuesday while receiving letters of credence from Ambassadors and High Commissioners accredited to Zambia from Germany, Japan, Ghana, Namibia, and Colombia.
Those who presented their credentials included German Ambassador to Zambia Sonke Siemon, Japanese Ambassador to Zambia Mikami Akiteru, and Ghana’s High Commissioner to Zambia Elizabeth Nyantakyi. Others were Namibia’s High Commissioner Goms Menette and Colombia’s Ambassador Maria del Rosaria Mina Rojas, who is based in Pretoria, South Africa.
President Hichilema congratulated the diplomats on their appointments and described them as bridges between their respective countries and Zambia.
“Africa does the least business with itself. We must see more JVs (joint ventures) together. We must do more together in agriculture,” he said.
The President emphasised that Zambia sought to deepen its relationships with countries it had diplomatic ties with.
“All of you have a history with this country. We have a special relationship with the Federal Republic of Germany. With Japan, we have a long relationship as well, in many ways, in many facets of life – government to government, business to business, and people to people,” he said.
Hichilema also highlighted the historical relationship between Ghana and Zambia, dating back to the founding presidents Kwame Nkrumah and Kenneth Kaunda.
“They worked hard to bring the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the AU now. So we continue to do that together.”
He further acknowledged Zambia’s close ties with Namibia, noting their shared regional and cultural heritage.
“With Namibia, we are next-door neighbours and we are truly one people in this region. There are a couple of common things that we are doing together. We have common assets together,” he said.
The President reiterated that Zambia’s foreign policy was anchored on two pillars: peace, security, and stability, and economic development and trade.
“With some of you we share bilateral relationships based on philanthropy. But we understand that the dynamics have changed; we do believe in global order. Dynamics have changed and we need to be inclusive. Yes, aid is important, but we want to focus on investing together. Zambia has resources of today and the future; critical minerals like copper, cobalt, manganese, lithium and others,” he said.
Hichilema stressed that Zambia and Africa now sought economic partnerships with Germany and Japan, where trade and investment took centre stage. He also thanked both countries for their support during Zambia’s debt restructuring programme.
“In my private sector days, we dealt with quite a number of Japanese companies like Mitsui, Toyota, Marubeni, Marunouchi. When we visited Japan, we talked about these issues so that we can deepen our partnership,” he said.
Regarding Colombia, the President noted the importance of maintaining and deepening the country’s historic heritage with Zambia.
“But more than just maintenance of that heritage, we need to deepen it so that we can achieve more together to benefit the people of Colombia and Zambia,” he said.
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