DOREEN NAWA
Lusaka
FIRST National Bank (FNB) Zambia chief executive officer Kapumpe Chola has called for a decisive shift from dialogue to bankable transactions to secure Africa’s energy and infrastructure future.
Speaking at the Continental Energy and Infrastructure Investment Forum (CEIIF), Ms Chola commended the South African Electrotechnical Export Council (SAEEC) and its partners — including the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA), the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa — for convening a forum focused on delivering tangible investment outcomes.
“This forum goes beyond dialogue. What we are really looking for are bankable outcomes,” Ms Chola said. “We have been reminded very often by His Excellency [Hakainde Hichilema] that it is about transactions, not just dialogue.”
Ms Chola said reliable, affordable and sustainable energy is the backbone of economic growth, supporting industrialisation, job creation and regional integration across Africa.
“At FNB Zambia, we firmly believe that energy is fundamental to multi-sectoral production.
Without it, our development ambitions as a continent are severely constrained,” she said.
She highlighted Zambia’s push to strengthen regional power connectivity and cross-border power trade, noting that energy integration is critical to unlocking industrial growth within southern Africa.
Ms Chola said while momentum is growing in renewable energy, transmission infrastructure and cross-border power trading, Africa must invest in a balanced energy mix that includes stable base-load power to support industrialisation.
She stressed that unlocking Africa’s energy and infrastructure potential requires more than policy frameworks, calling for alignment between policy, technical expertise and innovative financing supported by strong public-private partnerships.
As part of one of Africa’s largest financial services groups, Ms Chola said FNB Zambia brings strong regional connectivity and extensive experience in project finance, infrastructure, trade finance, guarantees and sustainable financing solutions.
She urged developers, financiers and SMEs attending CEIIF to fully utilise the platform to forge meaningful partnerships and leave with clear, actionable commitments…
