Zambia honors Samia on their independence

TANZANIA: PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan is expected to be the official guest at the 59th Anniversary of the Independence of Zambia, which is expected to be held on Tuesday.

The event will also be attended by various leaders from within and outside the African continent.

Briefing journalists in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, January Makamba said the Head of State has been invited to be the official guest at the celebration by her counterpart, Hakainde Hichilema.

He also said President Samia has been invited for a State visit in Zambia from tomorrow (23 – 25 October this year) where among other things, she will grace the opening of a business forum between businessmen of the two countries.

The state visit by is expected to strengthen cooperation in strategic areas and identify new opportunities for mutual benefit.

Minister  Makamaba also highlighted main objectives of the visit, including identifying new opportunities for cooperation.

“President Samia’s visit entails five main objectives, including upholding the existing cooperation between  the two  countries, especially in strategic areas such as transport, energy and infrastructure,” the Minister pointed out.

Mr Makamba added that during the visit, President Samia and her counterpart Hakainde Hichilema will discuss the best way to improve and strengthen the jointly owned infrastructures, including the Tanzania Zambia Mafuta (TAZAMA), Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) and Tanzania Zambia (TANZAM) Highway.

Adding: “We will also discuss how to create conducive environment for businessmen and transporters in the countries to ensure smooth operation of their activities.”

He said President Samia will also hold talks with the Zambian business community about the major improvements being undertaken at the Dar es Salaam. Port.

“There are major improvements that are underway at Dar Port and we believe this visit is an opportunity to explain how the developments are beneficial so as to build confidence to our ally to continue using and trusting our port,” he underlined.

He said: “Along with the objectives that are mentioned, the general expectation of the visit is to strengthen the relationship and strategic cooperation that exists between our two countries and to create a friendly environment for business people.”

The Minister also revealed five agendas that are in line with the objectives of the visit which will be discussed in detail, including the efficiency of the Dar es Salaam Port, TAZARA, energy (TAZAMA), immigrations, business and investment.

“The huge market of our Dar Port is on transit cargo destined to Zambia…currently about 80 per cent of all cargo entering Dar Port and being transported to other countries pass through the border of Zambia, so port matters will be a very big agenda during this visit,” he added.

Coupled with that, Mr Makamba unveiled that in a period of six years, the trade volume between the two countries continued to take new shape from 143.74 bn/- in 2016 to 394.25 bn/- in 2022.

According to data revealed by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), the exports between two countries increased from 70bn/- in 2016 to 183 bn/- in 2022.

In a related development, the minister said the bilateral ties between the countries existed for so long as it was pioneered by the founding leaders, the late Julius Nyerere and Kenneth Kaunda, from Tanzania and Zambia, respectively.