have not yet been fully taken advantage of in order to benefit rural communities and the economy in general. in fact, communications infrastructure has been either lacking or inadequate in most rural areas of zambia to give an opportunity to rural communities to access and distribute information at low cost, as well as facilitate interactive participation in the creation and use of agricultural information. the potential benefits of a well integrated ict in agriculture are diverse and include : • transparent dissemination of information such as weather patterns, seed and fertilizer use, availability and distribution ; • easy accessibility to suppliers of inputs ; • common distribution of information on market prices of crops ; and • generally bringing together of suppliers and buyers of crops. government has put agriculture at the core of rural development and poverty reduction as well as employment creation. it is therefore important to note that the expansion of icts in rural communities is more required now than ever before, as most information is now disseminated through internet and cellular phones. these facilities will help uplift the living standards of rural communities. 3. 2 agriculture zambia ’ s agriculture sector has enormous potential to become a major grower and exporter of agricultural and horticultural produce. the country has an abundance of quality land, water ( over 40 % of fresh water resources in southern africa ) and ideal climate all suited to a wide range of agricultural products. only 15 % of zambia ’ s 60 million hectares of arable land is under cultivation. the recent surge in food prices in the world presents an enormous opportunity for zambia to become the food basket of the sub region. this can be achieved by re - doubling efforts to boost agricultural productivity coupled with substantial increase in infrastructure investment to ease supply bottlenecks that are pushing up prices. zambia ’ s irrigation potential is estimated at more than 500, 000 hectares while only about 40, 000 hectares are irrigated despite the country having abundant water resources. increased yields in agricultural products like maize, rice and wheat, requires inputs such as fertilizers, irrigation water and proper roads to enable the harvested crops to be transported to the main markets and to prevent crop losses. 3. 3 energy ( electricity ) abundant investment opportunities exist in the energy sector in view of the huge power deficits in southern africa and zambia ’ s potential for more hydro - power generation plants. due to vast water resources and coal reserves, zambia is ideal for the provision of hydroelectric power. although most of the electricity is supplied from major hydro stations, there are also small diesel power stations in rural areas. there

##2. 9 billion compared to the increase of 13. 9 % in 2006. the lusaka all shares index almost doubled, rising by 92. 9 % to close the year at 3, 533. 52 points compared to an increase of 47. 7 % in the previous year. this robust performance was a reflection of strong macroeconomic fundamentals in the economy and positive investor expectations in the growth and earnings prospects for both listed and quoted companies. government introduced 7, 10 and 15 - year bonds to help deepen the financial markets in 2007. foreign investments in government securities rose to k830. 5 billion as at december 2007 from k539. 8 billion recorded end - december 2005, an indication of the rising confidence in the economy. 2. 7 fiscal developments on the fiscal front the government is expected to limit domestic borrowing to 1. 2 percent of gdp in 2008. by reducing levels of government borrowing and enforcing prudent budget execution, this should result in greater mobilisation of domestic resources and effective coordination with the monetary authorities. zambia has articulated its long - term development objectives in the national long term vision 2030, which is aimed at raising zambia to a middle income status by 2030. part of this vision is enshrined in the fifth national development plan ( fndp ) ; 2006 - 2010 whose theme is : “ broad based wealth and job creation through citizenry participation and technological advancement ”. the growth of the economy will be driven by increased activities by the private sector in agriculture, mining, export - led manufacturing and tourism. government will support this growth by accelerating the implementation of structural reforms and promote investing in key infrastructure such as roads, energy and telecommunication in conjunction with the private sector as well as improve legal, institutional and regulatory frameworks. 3. 0 infrastructure development in order to consolidate the recent economic successes and to realize full potential, zambia needs to address the large infrastructure gap that is inhibiting further growth. weak infrastructure such as : roads, rail system, airports / airstrips and other communication barriers reduce the ability to take advantage of the good location that the country has. furthermore investment, particularly in rural infrastructure needs to be scale - up significantly. poor infrastructure and inadequate access is resulting in significantly increased cost of doing business, making it difficult to integrate the rural population with the rest of economy. opportunities for investment in infrastructure development exist in the following sectors : 3. 1 transport and communication the generally good land route communication networks of zambia ’ s neighbouring countries have