PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema says he has reached out to his Congolese counterpart, Felix Tshisekedi to propose that Zambia and Congo establish a structured trading arrangement for mealie meal.
He said there was need for the two countries to formalise trade in mealie meal so that both countries benefit.
The President said the move is not only about formalising trade but also boosting productivity, food security and job creation in the country.
“Zambians complain about smugglers. These are not smugglers, let’s turn them into our customers. Let’s produce more for them, for the country north of us. And now, this President has reached out to his counterpart there, that mwana, my friend, my dear president, your excellency sir, can we now have a structured trading arrangement,” he said.
“You want maize from us, we will not give it to you. But we will give you mealie meal, so we return our milling jobs here, but let’s agree how much mealie meal do you want from us every year? We will grow it for you and then we will deliver the mealie meal. Then you don’t call anybody a smuggler.”
The Head of State further explained that with better productivity and efficiency, Zambia could feed itself and neighbouring countries while empowering local businesses.
He said it was also important for the country to create ready markets or off take agreements for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to thrive.
“It’s extremely important for SMEs to have off-take markets for what they produce. Then they can focus on production and we can go far and it will be kwenyus,” he said.
The Head of State said this yesterday during the launch of the Growth Investment Partners (GPI) Zambia in Lusaka.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, July 16, 2025
The post Let’s turn mealie meal smugglers into customers – Hichilema first appeared on Kalemba News.