About Us

Mission

To operate as an efficient one-stop service centre that supports trade and investment through facilitation, research, advocacy, networking and enterprise training.

Vision

Our vision is to be the leading go-to firm for any company wishing to invest in Zambia and the Southern African region, making trade and investment in the region a trouble-free process with high profitability.

Services

To promote and facilitate investment in Zambia.

The Zambian International Trade & Investment Centre (ZITIC) is a private business Consulting firm focused on contributing to socio-economic development through the promotion and facilitation of local and international trade and investment in Zambia and the surrounding countries.

ZITIC provides consultancy and other support services to foreign and local investors and facilitates Zambian participation in international trade and investment events. ZITIC supports international trade through promotion of export of Zambian products and representation of foreign companies wishing to offer their products on the Zambian market as well as the COMESA and SADC Regions.

We promote development of small and medium enterprises through various services such as sourcing trade and project finance for business growth, training and facilitating access to both local and export markets. ZITIC also provides policy advisory services to Governments on Industrial and trade policy as well as strategies to increase trade and investment.

Appreciating the importance of effective leadership in business, ZITIC works with highly experienced, internationally recognized leadership gurus who offer leadership training to our Clients or any other company needing the service of the best international leadership trainers in the various business specialties.

The organization was established on 30th April 2009 and registered by the Patents and Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) under the Companies Act as a Limited Company.

EXPERIENCE

Currently, ZITIC is providing consultancy services to the World Bank and the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock as the Investment Support Fund Administrator for the Irrigation Development Support Project (IDSP) valued at US $101.0 million for 30 months starting 14th April 2014. As the Lead Consulting firm working in Association with Newton Lungu and Associates and First Alliance Bank, ZITIC is responsible for the overall project management and implementation for the various clusters, namely, matching grant administration and management, financial management, support to entrepreneurs in their preparation of project proposals, sourcing appropriate irrigation technology, monitoring and evaluation as well as counterpart resource mobilization.

ZITIC is the only Zambian private trade and investment promotion and facilitation firm which has built a reputation for professionalism and excellence in all its undertakings. As at August 2014, some of the activities the company has undertaken in promoting trade and investment include the following:

  1. ZITIC has just completed facilitation for the establishment of Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital (a leading Indian specialized eye-care hospital) in Lusaka, Zambia with state-of-the-art technology. The hospital in Lusaka opened its doors to the public on 22nd April 2014 and plans are under way to establish similar hospitals in other Provinces in the country with ZITIC support who will lead the hospital expansion effort.
  2. Plans are under way to establish similar hospitals in other Provinces in the country.
  3. ZITIC has organized a number of trade missions to the Canton Fair in Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, taking hundreds of Zambian business persons to view available technologies for various business activities, hence enabling interaction with the technology providers.
  4. ZITIC has assisted many clients in sourcing equipment for their various productive activities in the agricultural, construction and manufacturing businesses.
  5. In March 2010, ZITIC organized a Zambian delegation to the Conclave hosted by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and the EXIM Bank of India.
  6. In May, 2010, ZITIC was invited to the “Africa Day 2010 organized by the Indo-Africa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IACCI) in Mumbai, India at which an MOU was signed between IACCI and ZITIC for cooperation in trade and investment promotion, hence promoting technology transfer between India and Zambia.
  7. In July 2010, ZITIC organized another delegation to the follow up CII Conclave held in Windhoek, Namibia. It was at this occasion that ZITIC and CII signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CII to cooperate in trade and investment promotion activities.
  8. In February 2011, ZITIC organized and led a delegation of fifty-four (54) Zambian business persons to the first Africa –USA Business Executives Conference and Expo in Las Vegas, USA, organized in conjunction with the California-based US-Africa Trade & Investment Firm. This event was highly successful and all attendees were able to conclude a number of promising business cooperation arrangements and partnerships with their American counterparts.
  9. Following the success of this mission, the Commercial Department of the US Embassy in Lusaka requested to work with ZITIC to organize Zambian participation in the PACKEXPO in Las Vegas, Nevada from 26th to 28th September 2011. ZITIC put together a delegation of 27 Zambian business persons who traveled to the PACK EXPO. The PACK EXPO is a leading American Exhibition showcasing processing and packaging technology, hence enabling visitors and participants to learn what is available on the international technology market. In October 2012, ZITIC organized a repeat mission to the PACK EXPO which was held in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
  10. In May 2011, the USAID Southern African Trade Hub (SATH) based in Gaborone, Botswana, engaged ZITIC on contract to organize Zambian participation in the NAMPO Agricultural Show in South Africa. ZITIC led a Zambian delegation to the same from the 15th to 19th May 2011 to South Africa which was a great success. In 2012, ZITIC was once again contracted by SATH to organize a delegation to the NAMPO Show in May 2012 with a 31-strong delegation. The NAMPO Agricultural show is the leading agribusiness show in Southern Africa at which various technologies in the Agricultural sector are exhibited.
  11. The company has signed in excess of twenty (20) Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) for the promotion of trade, investment and technology transfer with numerous organizations from different countries such as India, Malaysia, USA, China, Kenya and South Africa.
  12. In August 2014, ZITIC organized the first ever Zambian delegation to the Interbuild Africa 2014, a exhibition dedicated to the Construction and allied industries in Johannesburg, South Africa.

BASIS OF OUR FEES

As a private Consulting firm, ZITIC charges fees for its services, based on the time spent on a client’s assignment by staff and the levels of skill and responsibility required.

Profile of CEO

Dr. Sebastian C Kopulande
Chief Executive Officer

Sebastian is the current Member of Parliament for Chembe Constituency, a Rhodes Scholar and established businessman with a degree of Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Management Studies from the University of Oxford. He is a Founding Member of the Board of the American Chamber of Commerce in Zambia.

He is currently serving as Chairman of the Project Management Board of the Investment Support Fund Administrator for the Irrigation Development Support Project (IDSP) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock funded by the World Bank.

Sebastian graduated with a Distinction in Psychology and Public Administration from the University of Zambia in 1983 where he was awarded Best-All-Round Student in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences. In 1993 he was elected as a PEW Economic Freedom Fellow at Georgetown University, USA where he pursued studies in Transitional Economics, which covers managing an economy in distress and in transition from a commandist to a free market system.

In March 2013, he was elected to participate in the CSC Leaders training programme in the UK, delivered by the partnership between Common Purpose and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh’s Commonwealth Study Conference. The training programme is aimed at developing future leadership in the Commonwealth.
 

In his corporate career, Sebastian has worked as a Management Consultant for Deloitte and Touche, General Manager for Kapumpe Office and Drawing Limited and later for Edwards Electrical Limited and FEA Auto Electrical and Rewinding Limited. He is a successful entrepreneur with many years of experience in business. Apart from ZITIC, he owns Setrec Steel & Wood Processing Limited, for which he is Executive Chairman. Sebastian’s marketing and management skills have led his company Setrec to win high-level awards in local and international exhibitions.

He possesses exceptional experience in corporate affairs and corporate governance, having served as Chairman of many Government-owned companies before their privatization including Kafue Textiles Limited, Kapiri Glass Products and more recently, Times Printpak Zambia Limited, a Government-owned Newspaper Group incorporating the Times of Zambia and the Sunday Times Newspapers.

In October 2004, he established the Zambia-China Business Association (ZCBA), a private initiative, aimed at exposing Zambian entrepreneurs to business opportunities in China, particularly in the sourcing of appropriate technologies to improve business productivity.

Since then, he has been Chairman of the organization and has led several Zambian business delegations to the Chinese Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou (the Canton Fair). The ZCBA has been recognized as a resounding success. He has also been Vice President of the Zambia Association of Manufacturers (ZAM) which represents the interests of the Zambian manufacturing sector and provides various support services for its members including public policy advocacy.

On 2nd April 2012, he was appointed by the World Energy Forum of New York as Director for the Southern African Development Community (SADC) comprising 15 member countries. In December 2013, he was appointed by the African Union Commission (AUC) to the team working on developing the Pan-African Investment Code (PAIC) as one of the African Experts on Investment and Business environment.

On 25th January 2016, he was appointed to the Advisory Board of Food Trade East and Southern Africa, a UK Government-funded organization operating in nine countries to promote trade in staple foods in the East and Southern African region.

On 11th August 2016, he was elected as the first Member of Parliament for Chembe Constituency in Luapula Province, northern Zambia. He brings very rich experience in Government and Public Affairs through his various assignments in the sector up to serving as Advisor to two previous Zambian Heads of State. 

He entered Public Service on 7th November 1991 as Senior Private Secretary to the Vice President of the Republic of Zambia, the late Dr. Levy P. Mwanawasa, SC, who later became Zambia’s third President. He was responsible for the establishment of the Office within the Government administration system. In December 1993, he was transferred to the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry as Director of Industry to drive policy development in investment and economic liberalization.

In 1996, he was elevated to the position of Permanent Secretary to establish the Office of the Minister without Portfolio (as the 3rd office in Government from the Presidency) under the late President Mr. Michael Chilufya Sata who was then Minister. He was later in 1997 moved to State House as Comptroller/Permanent Secretary where he was in charge of Finance and Administration in the Office of the Republican President, then Mr. Frederick J.T. Chiluba, until March 1999.

From 2005 to end 2006, he served as Special Assistant to the President (Special Duties), the late Dr. Levy P. Mwanawasa, SC., at State House with the responsibility of advising the Zambian Head of State on a variety of national and international policy issues. He was also responsible for writing the President’s major speeches on various local and international policy matters. Amongst many of his other assignments, he served as Chairman of the Presidential Task Force to establish Multi-Facility Economic Zones (Industrial Parks) in Zambia along the lines of South East Asia.

Sebastian developmed the disaster management policy and establishment of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit in the Office of the Vice-President, the Citizen’s Economic Empowerment Policy, Presidential Housing Initiative, Multi-facility Economic Zones Policy, Small Enterprise Development Policy, Public Private Partnership policy and numerous others.

He has extensive experience in Governance and economic development matters, particularly in the field of industrial and trade policy, economic policy formulation, economic empowerment, private sector development and trade and investment promotion and facilitation. He has participated extensively in issues of African industry and trade at regional (COMESA and SADC) and continental (AU) levels as well as Zambia.

A believer in African Regional economic integration and South-South Cooperation, he worked with the UNDP office in Zambia to conceptualize and establish the Zambia-Malawi-Mozambique Growth Triangle.

In his private life, Sebastian is an active Catholic, married with three children, and has exhibited high-level social responsibility. During the Mozambican floods in 2000, he established SOS Mozambique, an NGO, which mobilised funds in Zambia for the flood victims. As Chairman of the organization, he campaigned publicly through the media and the project was a resounding success. The funds raised were sent to Mozambique through the UNICEF office in Zambia and were used to construct 16 houses for the displaced flood victims.

Following the Tsunami Disaster in December 2004, he established the SOS Tsunami that mobilized financial resources in Zambia to support the victims. The funds were handed over to UNICEF in Zambia for onward transmission to Somalia via the local UNICEF office. He is the Board Chairman of the Partnership Forum in Zambia, an organization committed to the promotion of partnerships in development using special competences of Government, Civil Society and the Private Sector.