National Restoration Party president Elias Chipo says under when his party forms government, Zambia will be an energy superpower, adding that the goal would create a commercial basis for infrastructure development and reducing poverty.

In the party’s weekly newsletter to News Diggers! Chipimo stated that the NAREP vision was to move Zambia from poverty and scarcity, to prosperity and shared opportunity.

“We see a prosperous country living at peace with itself and with its neighbours, that is able to project itself confidently in the world as a leader in its areas of strength. Under a NAREP administration, Zambia will be a country in which every citizen will have access to quality health care and education; and whose freely elected government is committed to selflessly serving all of the people in order to facilitate the attainment of their full potential,” he stated.

Chipimo further stated that the answers to the current economic difficulties lay, largely in the vast untapped human and natural resources that Zambia was blessed with.

“With respect to the development of the nation’s human resource, it is expected that tourism and agriculture are the most likely mass employers and mass providers of the basics for survival. NAREP has also identified a major opportunity in ‘mass recycling’ and ‘green energy’ industries. This will be spearheaded through a Zambia Sustainability Plan to be implemented over the next 20 years,” Chipimo stated.

He stated that to create the qualified workforce to meet the demands of the new economy, NAREP would establish mass recruitment centres.

“To create the qualified workforce to meet the demands of the new economy, NAREP will establish mass recruitment centres through public/private partnerships operating under the infrastructure owned by the Zambia National Service and through underutilised technical colleges around the country. These institutions will be substantially revamped with major re-investment to cater to this new drive to recruit the nation’s otherwise idle youth,” he stated.

Chipimo further stated that in order to promote home-based self sustenance, NAREP would ensure that Zambia adopted the ‘Zambia Sustainability Plan for a green economy’.

He stated that NAREP would ensure that imported technology was used as much as possible to assist in appropriate local technology development and would also revitalise the formal education sector, among others.

Chipimo stated that under NAREP’s guidance, Zambia would be a country that would play its role as; an energy superpower, the continental breadbasket and a regional inland infrastructure and logistics hub.

“NAREP’s vision foresees three outcomes which are built on three pillars that draw their strength from eight core values. Hence “Vision 3:3:8”. Under NAREP’s guidance, Zambia will be a country that will play its role as:An energy superpower; This goal will create a commercial basis for infrastructure development and produce a more sustainable model for significantly reducing poverty in rural and urban areas. There will be extensive use of solar technology to power villages and towns. We will harness the nation’s great potential to be a world player in the grand scale production of bio-fuels thereby reducing our dependence on imported petroleum and related products,” he stated.

“The continental breadbasket; The natural and intended consequence of opening up the rural areas to new investments in clean energy production will be the development of the vast agricultural potential of the country. Policies to promote community farming on a commercial scale as well as to enhance ongoing commercial farming will also be introduced as part of the initiatives to develop Zambia’s status as a major developer of bio-fuels.”

Meanwhile, Chipimo stated that with correct political will and careful use of resources, Zambia could within 10 years, claim its place as the continent’s ‘foremost inland regional infrastructure and logistics hub’.

“A regional inland infrastructure and logistics hub; Zambia’s unique geographical location has been preached about for many years. With the correct political will and careful use of resources, Zambia can, within 10 years, claim its place as the continent’s foremost inland regional infrastructure and logistics hub. One example of how this would work is in the downstream processing of mineral concentrates out of the DR Congo. Zambia can lead the way as a centre for mining excellence in promoting innovative technologies for improved efficiency in the mining and mineral processing sectors,” stated Chipimo.