ZAMBIA and France are holding discussions to start official bilateral cooperation.

This will be done through France offering concessional loans to Zambia to increase the economic potential of country.

French Ambassador to Zambia Olivier Richard revealed this in Lusaka yesterday during the French national day.

He said this is a follow-up to the 25th France-Africa Summit held in May, in Nice.

Mr Richard said apart from the discussions on economic development, there will be other follow-ups to the summit in Zambia.

He said France is considering giving Zambia concessional loans, in addition to the assistance rendered through the European funding to African countries.

Mr Richard said relations between France and Africa need to be further enhanced.

“We are trying to build a stable friendship that won’t be separated from Africa’s destiny. The summit which was held in Nice is not the first or last. We want to build constructive and confident relations with English speaking African countries,” he said.

Mr Richard said France would like to see Africa better represented at the G20 and international institutions such as the United Nations (UN) Security Council.

Mr Richard reiterated his President Nicholas Sarkozy’s desire to see that Africa has a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

He said France and Africa share the same concern of reducing poverty.

And Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Felix Mutati commended France for opening up to the African Continent.

“By hosting the summit, France opened up and showed willingness to move away from exclusiveness, to a progressive approach on issues concerning the African Continent,” he said.

Mr Mutati commended Mr Sarkozy for delivering commitment to work with the African Continent.
He commended Mr Sarkozy for stating that Africa’s place in global governance must be fair and balanced.

Mr Mutati also thanked Mr Sarkozy for his commitment to establishing an Africa agriculture fund of US$250 million, to deal with issues of food security.

He said France has opened up a platform for enhanced trade and investment.

Mr Mutati said in the past three years, French Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to Zambia is in excess of US$300 million.

“This is significant and I would like to commend companies such as Lafarge, who have contributed to this,” he said.

Mr Mutati said Zambia would this year hold an investment forum to attract more French companies and increase trade between the two countries.

TANZANIA’S main airline, Precision Air plans to launch flights into Zambia, as part of its ambitious and rational expansion into the regional markets.

Chairperson Michael Shirima has said the airline intends to strengthen its presence in the region, and has named Zambia as one of the markets that Precision Air was eager to penetrate.

According to Reuters news agency, the airline wants to sell a third of its shares in an initial public offering (IPO) through the stock exchange in that country by the end of the year to fund the expansion programme.

Partly owned by Kenya Airways, with a 49 percent stake, Precision Air is the main carrier in Tanzania, operating ATR 72-500 and ATR 42 planes and a Boeing 737 to 13 destinations in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

But Mr Shirima told the news agency on Tuesday that the airline would now be looking more to markets in the Southern African region, ruling out launching of overseas international routes because of associated risks.

He said on Tuesday the IPO would fund new aircraft and more services in the regional economic blocs to which Tanzania belonged such as the Southern African Development Community and the East African Community (EAC).

“International routes are a bit risky. We will focus on expansion of regional routes to countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Angola, South Africa, Zambia, Malawi and EAC member states,” Mr Shirima said.

However, he said it was not clear how much will be raised through the offer.

Precision Air has already sought regulatory approval for the sale of the shares, which will result in Kenya Airways cutting its stake to 34 per cent.

“We envisage achieving this goal by October, but have been delayed by legal requirements. The target is to offer the IPO before year end,” he said.

Mr Shirima started the company in 1993, offering charter services with a five-seat Piper Aztec plane. Kenya Airways, which bought its stake in 2003, was not immediately available for comment.

Precision Air said late last year it planned to invest about US$300 million within three years to expand its fleet.