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The Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has clarified that it had not granted any incentives to the Vietnamese investor who pledged a US$72 billion investment over 20 years.
This statement follows criticisms about ZDA allegedly providing incentives and six million hectares of land to the investor.
According to ZDA, no incentives have been or will be granted beyond what is prescribed by law. The agency also denied any approval of six million hectares of land for the investor in question.
ZDA Board Chairperson, Biemba Maliti, clarified these allegations, stating that the agency operates strictly within the provisions of the ITBD Act, and that any requests outside the law were invalid.
Maliti issued this statement on Monday in Lusaka.
“For the avoidance of doubt, we wish to advise that ZDA has not granted any incentives to the investor in question and has no intention of granting any incentives outside what is prescribed in the law.
ZDA encourages all investors and the general public to contact the Agency for accurate information regarding investment matters,” Maliti said.
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Regarding land allocation allegations, Maliti emphasized that ZDA did not have the authority to approve or issue land to investors.
“The correct position is that ZDA facilitated a consultative meeting on June 18, 2024, between Viet Zam and stakeholders where the investor presented his proposal.
“Various investment scenarios were discussed, ranging from one hectare to six million hectares, with an indicative investment amount of US$72 billion over 20 years,” he said.
Maliti explained that ZDA’s role was to facilitate sectoral meetings at the investor’s request without discrimination or bias.
“ZDA and stakeholders guided the investor to apply for a smaller piece of land in line with the existing farm block concept, where a domestic or foreign investor can apply for one to 20,000 hectares of land for their project.
“This guidance is not an approval of six million hectares of land. ZDA has no legal mandate to allocate land of any size, let alone the purported six million hectares,” he noted.
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