DENMARK WITHDRAWS ZAMBIA AID EFFECTIVE 2013

Effective 2013, Zambia will lose national budget support from the Danish government.

Danish Ambassador to Zambia, Thomas Schjerbeck however says the decision also affects other 6 African countries.

For Zambia, Mr Schjerbeck has ruled financial mismanagement as reason for his government’s decision.

Denmark was among other Scandinavian countries, which withdrew support for Zambia at the height of financial embezzlements in some government ministries.

The withdrawal of financial support then, which included a freeze in global funds disbursements, affected several health sector public projects.

Mr Schjerbeck has told the local news agency, ZANIS, that the development is a political decision, adding that Denmark will now shift its financial support to other needy African countries.

He has explained that Denmark has been affected by the financial crisis, which has hit Europe therefore the decision to phase out support for seven of the 26 African countries eliciting Danish support for over 50 years.

Denmark has been giving Zambia at least 50 million dollars per year for poverty reduction programmes.