Councils implored to actualise economic expansion agenda

The Zambian government has issued a firm challenge to local authorities across the country, urging municipal and district leaders to actively translate the national Grow Zambia Agenda into tangible and measurable economic outcomes at the grassroots level. Speaking on the imperative of local implementation, Northern Province Acting Permanent Secretary Beauty Undi-Phiri stressed that broad economic blueprints can only succeed if councils align their local development plans with national production goals. This push forms part of a broader administrative drive by the New Dawn administration to pivot the country from macroeconomic stabilization toward aggressive, productivity-led growth. Launched as a central framework for the government's second term, the Grow Zambia Agenda seeks to devolve economic planning away from central government ministries down to provinces, districts, and local communities. Administration officials note that while the first mandate focused heavily on stabilizing macroeconomic indicators, restructuring external debt, and restoring fiscal credibility, the current phase demands direct structural transformation. Local authorities are consequently viewed as the primary frontline agents responsible for identifying provincial comparative advantages, streamlining local investments, and removing bureaucratic red tape that hampers enterprise growth. A critical component of this decentralised strategy involves leveraging existing fiscal instruments such as the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) to fast-track community-level infrastructure and entrepreneurial capacity. Government leaders have argued that local councils must move beyond routine administrative functions to become proactive hubs of commercial facilitation. By optimizing regional strengths in agriculture, livestock, tourism, and small-scale commerce, municipalities are expected to generate local employment opportunities and directly contribute to the national objective of doubling economic