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Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema has urged the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) to shift its focus from conflict resolution to conflict prevention and increase regional investment to address the economic causes of instability.
Hichilema said the factors that led to the establishment of the regional body remained relevant and required member states to take proactive measures to prevent conflicts before they erupted.
Speaking in Lusaka during an ICGLR meeting at the InterContinental Hotel, he called for a renewed commitment to the organisation’s founding objectives.
“We need to renew our mandate maybe, but more importantly the fundamental reason that we were created. Factors that led to the creation of this body. And that we don’t pay lip service to working towards ameliorating those reasons. But more importantly to transit from conflict resolution to conflict prevention,” Hichilema said.
He said the region should increasingly focus on economic development once it had made sufficient progress in preventing and resolving conflicts.
Hichilema said the Great Lakes region, Southern African Development Community, East African Community and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa were endowed with significant human and natural resources that could be used to improve people’s livelihoods.
He called for more efficient use of those resources to create value, expand economic opportunities and improve living standards.
The president said economic exclusion, whether real or perceived, was among the factors that could fuel conflict and encourage people to migrate across borders in search of opportunities.
He urged ICGLR member states to give greater attention to economic expansion, job creation and investment as part of efforts to address the underlying causes of instability.
Hichilema cited Zambia’s free education policy as an example of efforts to equip citizens, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, with skills needed to access employment and business opportunities.
He also challenged the perception that investment partners for the region should primarily come from Europe, the United States or Asia, saying neighbouring countries should play a greater role in financing each other’s development.
“Why is it that whenever we are looking for investments in our Great Lakes region the perception is that the investment partners will come from Europe. Why? I’m serious I’m not joking. It’s like a stereotype,” he said.
Hichilema said regional investment was particularly important because neighbouring countries shared historical, cultural and family ties that had been divided by colonial-era borders.
He cited communities along the Zambia-Tanzania border, where families had relatives on both sides, and said such connections should support closer economic cooperation.
The president said Zambia was opening additional border crossings to reduce pressure on the Nakonde border post, including routes linking Mbala and Pulungu.
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He urged member states to consider joint investments and ventures, including projects on Lake Tanganyika involving Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Zambia, with opportunities extending to Central African Republic, South Sudan and Sudan.
Hichilema said countries should improve border operations, increase cross-border trade and expand production, adding that Zambia’s Grow Zambia agenda included a target of producing 10 million tonnes of food to strengthen food security.
ICGLR Executive Secretary, Mubita Luwabelwa, said interconnected security and humanitarian challenges persisted across the region, citing continued suffering in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, the humanitarian crisis in Sudan and fragile progress in South Sudan.
He said these challenges required regional solidarity and sustained political commitment.
Luwabelwa said ministers had held discussions on peace, security and humanitarian issues and would continue their deliberations during the Regional Interministerial Committee meeting.
Foreign Affairs Minister, Mulambo Haimbe, urged ministers to uphold dialogue, mutual respect, sovereignty and the peaceful settlement of disputes.
He said decisions adopted by the regional body should be realistic, measurable and subject to follow-up, adding that member states should prioritise the common interests of their people over narrow national positions.
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