ZAM Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms. Florence Muleya made a presentation on 22nd September 2020 highlighting the strategy to relaunch the manufacturing sector in the new normal. At the height of the pandemic, what were those steps that the manufacturing sector could take to ensure resilience and sustainability despite the pandemic.
The presentation begun by acknowledging that the manufacturing sector in Zambia was negatively impacted by COVID-19. Most challenges in the sector were supply led such lack of imported raw materials because of lockdowns – mainly in China, slow and infrequent movement of goods, and slow production due to increased employee shifts and work from home policies. Other encounters were demand led including, changing consumption patterns experienced due to the COVID-19 outbreak, production coping strategies and shift in consumption patterns such as increased demand for more healthy perishable food options including leafy vegetables.
Most concerns from manufacturers during the period was that the COVID-19 pandemic was leading to lost income, reduced productivity, possible cessation of trading and closures of site premises.
ZAM, however, has been playing a critical role in the pursuit of economic recovery and undertaking several efforts to ensure that the fight against the negative impact of COVID-19 on the manufacturing sector is won. To ensure that the well-being of the manufacturing sector was achieved ZAM had been conducting the following activities for its members:
- Aiding importation of critical raw materials into the – recommending manufacturing companies to Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry (MCTI) to allow for trade especially for countries with closed borders, the likes of South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe.
- Advocating for enhanced economic linkages – through the Zambia South Africa Task Force chaired by ZAM, agro-products increased to over 90% in the chain stores.
- Advocating for fiscal incentives to allow continued production in tough times – SI no 110 – advocating for suspension of duty on imported raw materials.
- Sensitizing its membership on how to conduct business during COVID-19.
ZAM implored manufacturers to continue implementing sanitation measures and reconfigure safety in workspaces, transfer new knowledge throughout different supply chains, evaluate automation solutions to reduce the number of workers on factory floor, and to gain a keener real-time awareness of supply chains especially those affecting critical materials and components. Other solutions were to identify potentially weak links in the supply chain-especially in regions already affected and those likely to be implemented by COVID-19 and switch to those less likely affected and train employees especially drivers on means to protect themselves from contracting the virus.
Further, the Association implored the Government to increase initiatives around large scale research and development of products, promote domestic linkages through local content initiatives, and increase procurement of locally manufactured commodities.
