ZAMBIA ADMITTED AS THE FIFTY SIXTH MEMBER OF THE ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT (OECD) DEVELOPMENT CENTRE
Paris, Tuesday 10th December, 2024
Zambia has officially joined the OECD Development Centre as its fifty-sixth (56th) member and 12th African country at a Welcoming Ceremony held yesterday during the 9th High-Level Meeting of the Centre’s Governing Board in Paris, France.
The Zambian delegation is led by Honourable Minister of Tourism, Mr. Rodney Sikumba, MP who was accompanied by officials from the Ministry of Finance and National Planning and Zambia’s Ambassador to France, H. E. Ms. Judith Mulenga.
The OECD Development Centre comprises 55 members. Among these, 27 are OECD members and 28 are Developing or Emerging economies. Notably, 12 of these members are African countries. The Centre works to help Developing and Emerging economies to develop and implement policies to drive sustainable growth, reduce poverty and inequalities, and improve people’s lives. Countries from Africa, Asia and Latin America participate as full members in the Centre, where they interact on an equal footing with OECD members.
Zambia’s aspiration to the OECD membership commenced on 5th December 2024, through correspondence endorsed by the Honourable Minister of Finance and National Planning, Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane, MP, in which a formal acceptance and affirmation of Zambia’s membership to the OECD Development Centre and its Governing Board was communicated.
Honourable Rodney Sikumba, MP delivered an acceptance speech before the OECD Governing Board and in his remarks, the Honourable Minister of Tourism, delivered a message on behalf of the Country highlighting that:
“Zambia’s membership to the OECD Development Centre was a significant milestone for the people of the Republic of Zambia. Government, is cognizant of the contributions OECD Development Centre has made towards public policy calibration and reform programmes, to support sustainable growth that reduces poverty and inequalities in developing and emerging economies.
He indicated that the OECD Development Centre’s support to members had been vast and extended in different areas of policy formulation, including inequality, industrialisation, resource mobilisation, and green development. These areas of technical support in policy review were critical to help emerging and developing economies such as Zambia, make notable strides in their quest to achieve a judicious green transition.
He reiterated that the country’s expectation was that the engagement with OECD members, will assist the country to design better policies, enhance learning partnerships to intensify the implementation of reforms, that can assist Zambia to deliver tangible economic progress at optimal cost, while achieving greater impact in coordination with the OECD and its members.“
The welcome ceremony was attended by the President of Paraguay, H. E. Mr. Santiago Peña Palacios, Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Amor Mottley, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, Ambassador Amélie De Montchalin, Permanent Representative of France to OECD and chair of the OECD Development Centre governing board, Secretary General of OECD Mr. Mathias Corman as well as various Ambassadors and Ministers, among others.
Issued by:
The Embassy of the Republic of Zambia, France