Deal with those resisting digitalisation – Germany
By Mast Reporter
THE German government is concerned that establishing or doing business in Zambia remains a cumbersome and an expensive process.
German Ambassador to Zambia Anne Wagner-Mitchell urged the Zambian government to deal with all elements resisting the shift from manual to digital ways of doing business in the public sector.
“Where applications are processed in a transparent way, where you can track the status of your application and where all payments are done electronically, strengthening e-government services would substantially reduce the costs of doing business in Zambia,” Wagner-Mitchell said.
She said the business environment in Zambia should always benefit itself rather benefiting a few individuals.
“I would strongly encourage you to continue on this path of digital transformation, even if it is facing resistance from those who currently benefit from manual processes,” Wagner-Mitchell said.
She was speaking in Lusaka at the Zambia-Germany IT Forum, which included a German business delegation which is in Zambia to explore business and other partnership opportunities in information technology (IT).
“One of the concerns we hear from German companies is that doing business here in Zambia, in particular when German companies try to establish a branch here, it comes with a cumbersome and expensive process” Wagner-Mitchell said.
She was worried that many licences and certifications needed and often involve lengthy manual processes, with applications being lost or in the process untraceable.
“Many licences and certifications are needed, often involving lengthy manual processes, with applications being lost or untraceable, requiring to start the process all over. All of this can be addressed through fully established e-Government process,” Wagner-Mitchell said.
“And many companies in Zambia feel that in order to get through the administrative process to run a business in Zambia, they need to satisfy expectations of officials beyond the applicable fees for certain government services,” she said
Wagner-Mitchell was happy that the third delegation from Germany was visiting to explore business opportunities but said processes needed to be harnessed.
“In April, we had big cohort of German companies exhibiting at the AgriTech Expo, last week another delegation explored business opportunities in the mining sector, and now we have this delegation with a focus on the IT sector,” she said.
Wagner-Mitchell said the sequence of German business delegations was clear proof of the growing interest of the German private sector to do business in and with Zambia.
“In Zambia, there is a remarkable drive to digitise both the private and public sectors. And many in the German delegation here stand ready to support you, to support the qualification of Zambian IT experts, to support Zambia on its way to further digitise Zambia,” Wagner-Mitchell said.
