An assesment of the Citizen Economic Empowerment Fund on employment creation in the Zambian Economy

The empowerment of citizens is one programme that the government of Zambia has embarked on in order to empower the marginalised citizens economically. The citizen economic empowerment programme has since its inception in 2008 funded a number of projects. The study sought to measure the impact of the citizen’s economic empowerment fund on employment creation in the Zambian economy. The study was done amongst the recipients of the funds in Lusaka. The general objective of the study was to assess the impact of the Citizen Economic Empowerment Fund in terms of employment creation and performance (production/sales)Specific objectives included:Establish the major changes in the companies after receiving the funds ;Assess the employment status of companies before receiving funds;Assess the employment levels after receiving the funds;Assess the production or performance levels after receiving the fund Generally, the study revealed that there was a positive correlation between receiving of funds and employment creation in that the recipients of the funds had more staff after receiving the funds. Capital and expansion problems were some of the challenges experienced before receiving the funds. They also had very low employment levels before receiving the funds. However, the study further showed that after receiving the funds, the majority of the recipients recorded an increase in production/ sales and a growth in employment levels leading to further expansion of their businesses. The findings clearly show that the citizen’s economic empowerment fund has had a positive impact on the economy and on employment creation