Prague, July 1 (CTK) – A regular Czech embassy will soon open in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, to follow Czech ambassador Radek Rubes, who handed his credentials to Zambia’s President Edgar Lungu on April 26, daily Lidove noviny (LN) wrote on Saturday.
The Czechoslovak embassy was seated in Lusaka until 1992.
“Right now, I am still alone here, but soon my fellow workers are to join me. At first, they have to move the agenda from the neighbouring Zimbabwe,” Rubes told the paper.
Rubes said he could see many opportunities along the Zambezi River, described by Czech explorer Emil Holub (1847-1902).
“In Zambia, there is a large demand for electricity supplies. The latest projects focus on the Zambezi River,” he added.
“This is a potential that could be exploited by small and medium-sized companies from the Czech Republic,” Rubes said.
In late April, Agriculture Minister Marian Jurecka and representatives of eight Czech companies visited the Chisamba Agritech exhibition of agricultural products.
“All the exhibited Czech equipment was sold. There is a financially strong group of farmers ready to pay for the goods in cash,” Rubes said.
Czech Zetor tractors also sell in Zambia. They have a good reputation for being very reliable, LN writes.
In Zambia, the Czech diplomacy also has another vital task. It is to control the development aid right from the place.
As of next year, Zambia is to be another priority country to which Czech money will be flowing along with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ethiopia, Moldova, Georgia and Cambodia, LN writes.
Until 2020, the Czech Republic wants to spend 90 million crowns in Zambia. It also wants to send a diplomat who will be in charge of its projects to the country, it adds.
“It is desirable to send such a worker to Zambia within the enhancement of our presence there,” Michal Kaplan, director of the Czech Development Agency (CRA), is quoted as saying.
This is not much compared with Western countries, but Czech previous projects have proven that the Czech trace in Zambia has certainly not been lost, LN writes.
For the third year in a row, Caritas the Czech Republic along with Tomas Bata University have been developing postnatal care for mothers and their children in several districts in Zambia.
The Njovu group, headed by Czech activist Vendula Tembo, looks after socially threatened youths, organising vocational training in the fields of baker, tailor and electrician for them, LN writes.
In Zambia, there is also the Czech Brethren Evangelical Church Diaconia (CCE), implementing two gender projects. The first focuses on the teaching of reading and writing for adult women, providing information on women’s human rights and violence on them, it adds.
The second deals with women’s economic independence, LN writes.
“We are providing them with training in sustainable agriculture and establishment of small companies,” Zdenka Sobotova, from the CCE fund-raising department, is quoted as saying.
“We also support self-help groups in which women save money together and provide micro loans,” Sobotova said.
“Thanks to a loan from the joint fund they can start up some small businesses such as vegetable growing, sewing or chicken breeding,” she added.
The CCE projects are examples of the ways with which to change society in Zambia, typical of high illiteracy and violence on women from the bottom, LN writes.
“The seminars on violence on women and their rights are even attended by male participants,” Sobotova said.
