PAC president Andyford Banda says government under his party will restructure the Citizen Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC) so that it focuses more on ensuring that businesses succeed as opposed to giving loans.

And Banda says PAC will issue performance and bond guarantees for loan and lease financing to lenders, without necessarily giving out direct loans.

In PAC’s weekly news letter to News Diggers! Banda stated that the PAC government would overhaul the CEEC in order for it to focus more on ensuring that businesses succeeded, as opposed to giving loans.

He stated that the new CEEC would ensure that start-up businesses were adequately structured before they could access loans and opportunities to grow their businesses.

“The money that CEEC gives out as loans to businesses comes from the government and in some instances, grants are given with particular focus on certain sectors of the economy. As explained in the previous article, it’s not the core business of the government to give out loans but the banks and other financial institutions. PAC understands that in order to adequately empower Zambians, the banks and other financial institutions must work hand-in-hand with the government,” he stated.

“The new CEEC will ensure that start-up businesses are adequately structured before they can access loans and opportunities to grow their businesses. This is to ensure that their businesses are sustainable and can grow to be able to pay back loans.”

Banda further stated that the new CEEC would focus more on ensuring that businesses grow by creating opportunities through various partners from government and private sector, among other things.

“The new CEEC will focus more on ensuring that businesses grow through: (a) Structuring of start-ups and restructuring of existing SMEs seeking loans. (b) Providing basic business administration training tailored to the needs of various sectors. (c) Creating opportunities through various partners from government and private sector. (d) Facilitating financing opportunities for the opportunities created from partner banks and financial institutions. (e) Monitoring of businesses under CEEC,” he stated.

Banda stated that in order for businesses to succeed, the new CEEC would put in place systems that do not favour or encourage nepotism and corruption.

“It is a well-known fact that a significant portfolio of the loans that have not been paid back at CEEC are as a result of giving loans to relatives, friends or close associates without merit. So we will introduce systems that will favour every person as opposed to a few card-carrying members of the ruling party,” he stated.

And Banda stated that the new CEEC would also operate like a venture capital institution they would operate like a private institution helping start-ups to access loans and grow their business.

He added that the new CEEC would own shares and manage some of the businesses until the loan was fully paid.

“They will also own shares and manage some of the businesses until the loan is fully paid. This is in order to help start-ups achieve goals and also to help them with managing of the business and ensure that during the loan period, the start-ups do not divert from the principles agreed upon in running that business,” Banda stated.

“Even though the new CEEC will have a degree of management responsibilities in every business, it will not infer one person from CEEC per businesses. We will devise a method that will be efficient and cost effective. The point is that we will not inconvenience start-ups but rather help them achieve targets.”

Meanwhile, Banda stated that PAC would put an end to a system where government contracts were only accessible to a few privileged people.

“Normally, government contracts are only accessible to a few privileged people who are connected to the system. Successive governments have not realised that this kind of system is what has left the majority of Zambians in poverty, slowed consumer spending and denied the creation of jobs and promoted corruption. The PAC will put an end to this,” he stated.

“All non-special skills contracts will be exclusively shared among numerous Zambians through the restructured CEEC in partnership with Zambia Public Procurement Authority (ZPPA). This is in a quest to break current systems that are designed to support a few individuals as opposed to supporting the majority of Zambians. This will be done also in an effort to ensuring that the Zambian-buying population is boosted and hopefully spur a chain reaction of waking up sleeping industries.”

He further stated that a PAC government would breakup tendering and contracting monopolies to ensure that there were equal opportunities for all and an equitable distribution of the resources of Zambia.

Banda stated that the PAC government would introduce venture capital supports through the Citizens Economic Empowerment Fund, the National pensions Fund and Workers Compensation Fund.

He added that it would also issue performance and Bond guarantees for loan and lease financing to lenders without necessarily giving out direct loans.

Meanwhile, Banda stated that under the restructured CEEC, PAC would implement deliberate policies that would encourage locals to buy local products in order to ensure that local industries were sustained.