.: Siavonga Zambia :.

Siavonga today

For many years Siavonga has suffered from a lack of development and investment by the Central Government, Local Government and the Private Sector.

This in part can be explained by the fact that Lake Kariba (on the Zambian side), and the town of Siavonga was closed to all investment and business activity during the Zimbabwe struggle for independence from the period 1967 to 1980. It was not until Zimbabwe gained its independence in 1980 that any thought was given to the development of the town. However for number of reasons, the process of development was slow to take off and apart from the Kariba North Bank Hydro Station and ZESCO, no substantive private investment took place until the 1990’s.

A number of small hotels were refurbished to a limited standard and a handful of Lodges and Inns were built to cater for the growing conference market during the post Kaunda era. Kapenta fishing on the Lake began in the 1990’s and a number of commercial fishing enterprises were established at various centres including Siavonga, Chipepo and Sinazongwe. In addition, two or three crocodile farms were established. Apart from these few commercial activities and the secondary support businesses such as general commodity trading, local market traders, a fuel station, a post office and a bank, little has changed since that time.

The lack of development cannot solely to be blamed on the difficulties in the early years; it is now more than 30 years since the Zimbabwe troubles ended and the Lake was opened up for potential development. The Government “of the day” has invested in a hospital and a number of schools to cater for the growing population of Siavonga, which is growing exponentially compared to the investment and job creation. The lack of investment and the growing population has resulted in the indigenous people of the District being amongst the “poorest of the poor” in Zambia, and apart from the relative few that do have jobs, most people resort to subsistence farming and artisanal fishing. Poor people need places to live and without jobs they resort to building huts and sub-standard dwellings in various compounds around the town. These compounds have grown without any measure of control by the Local Authorities and as a result they have become scars on the landscape of Siavonga. In most cases, the compounds do not have any source of clean water available, sanitation or internal road accesses.

The population of Siavonga continues to grow, not only it seems by natural growth but by the influx of “outsiders”, attracted to the town for reasons perhaps best known to themselves. It is well known (by the residents and the authorities) that illicit cross border trading is common practice and theft of Kapenta from the commercial fishing rigs is rife. Such activities are becoming endemic in the District and the level of crime is increasing.

The Local Government and other regulatory authorities cannot dissociate from the lack of development in Siavonga. It is a known fact that the Siavonga District Council has for a number of reasons been dissolved on a number of occasions during the past years. This discontinuity and non functionality of the Council has lead to poor service provision, lack of infrastructure maintenance and a lack of development planning to attract new investment into the town.

Some of the main issues affecting Siavonga can be summarised:

The roads in Siavonga are generally in a poor condition and the only feeder road to the town is under threat from its use by heavy commercial vehicles.

Local Government services are virtually non existent and the already high cost of “doing business” in Zambia is aggravated by the seemingly unrealistic imposition of levies by the District Council.

Apart from the limited advertising done by some individual hotels and lodges, there is little promotion of Siavonga as a tourist destination. The lack of tourist attractions and activities makes the promotion of Siavonga difficult – a situation that must be addressed if the promotion of Siavonga is to succeed.

Despite the small size of Siavonga, visitors to the town often get lost due to the absence of directional signage and street names.

The Siavonga airstrip is poorly maintained and is rarely used due to safety concerns by airline operators and the poor road access from the town to the airstrip.

The unplanned and uncontrolled building of informal structures around the town does little to enhance Siavonga as an attractive tourist destination and business investment venue.

Kapenta fishing around the lake shore of the town by local and less formal operators is problematic. The the noise and lights of the mostly poorly maintained rigs fishing in front of hotels and residences is a nightly disturbance to tourists and residents alike. In some instances fishing takes place less than 50 metres from the shoreline and within protected fish breeding areas destroying the fish stocks and the environment. Despite the existence of legislation and regulations, little is done to enforce them.

The lack of a shared development plan for Siavonga does little to attract new business investment into the town.

Siavonga needs more investment in hotels, industries, services and commerce if many of the problems it faces are to be addressed.

The vision for Siavonga and the role of the Association

Siavonga will become an attractive tourist destination and an attractive business investment venue.

In the past there has been little dialogue and meaningful cooperation between the various stakeholder groups in the town. The business stakeholders have been isolated from the decision making process and as a result have tended to polarise and protect their own individual business interests and investments. Central Government has not had a decisive development policy for the Siavonga District and it has given little direction to its subordinate authorities to act and formulate meaningful development plans. Local Government has acted in isolation and failed to provide the necessary services and infrastructure required by the local community.

The role of Central and Local Government is to provide the infrastructure and an enabling environment for new investment and create incentives to attract new investment.

The role of the Private Sector is to take advantage of such an environment and the incentives provided and make meaningful and profitable investments in order to develop the town and create new jobs.

In order to achieve this, Central Government, Local Government and the Private Sector must work together to identify the issues affecting the development of the town and put plans into effect to address these issues. No faction can achieve this alone and it requires the co-operation and commitment of all parties concerned if we are to make a difference.

The business stakeholders have realised that the Government today has a new vision for Zambia; one which hopefully is all encompassing and inclusive. The discussions already had with various levels of the Government have given the business stakeholders new hope and encouragement for the future.

It is with this background that the business stakeholders of Siavonga have decided to come together and form an Association in order to focus its energies in an attempt to make a difference and change Siavonga for the benefit of all.

The Siavonga Tourism and Business Development Association shall be non-political and not for profit.

In addition to representing and addressing the issues and concerns of its members, the role of the Association will be to work closely with Central Government, Local Government and other regulatory authorities to identify issues affecting the development of Siavonga and cooperate with them in order to plan and help create the enabling environment required to attract new investment into the town.

The Siavonga Tourism and Business Development Association shall also be proactive in promoting Siavonga as a tourist destination and an attractive business investment venue and do everything possible to encourage new investment in the District.

In addition, the Association will

Give advice to the authorities, on the appropriate requirements of the business community in order to achieve the vision, and devise an appropriate development plan for the Siavonga District.
Raise issues with and ask appropriate questions to the relevant authorities in order to seek clarification on why such issues are of concern and what corrective action can or cannot be taken to address such issues.
Be proactive in suggesting and proposing solutions to the various issues raised and to pursue and follow up the progress on agreed actions.
Where issues cannot be resolved locally, to consider alternative solutions and assist where appropriate, the local authorities to lobby other governmental bodies and/or other organisations to provide external resources and seek assistance if required, in order to address these issues.
In association with organisations such as the Tourism Council of Zambia and the Zambia Business Forum, to lobby and influence Government policy towards creating an enabling environment for new investment in Siavonga and drive the town towards achieving its vision of being an attractive tourist destination and an attractive business investment venue.
To help create a public awareness of the importance of tourism and business investment in the District.
Where appropriate and where possible, to help raise funds and provide external resources to help resolve identified issues and promote tourism and business investment.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES:

The aims and objectives of the Association as stated in the Consitution shall be: