Dr. Sebastian C. Kopulande

Experience & Activities

Dr. Sebastian Kopulande is the President of VisionAfric Development. He is the Founder  and Chief Executive Officer of Zambian International Trade and Investment Centre
(ZITIC), a private business consultancy focused on trade and investment promotion and facilitation for Zambia and the rest of Africa.

From 2016 to 2021, he served as the inaugural Member of Parliament for Chembe Constituency in Luapula Province, in the north of Zambia. As Member of Parliament, Dr. Kopulande served on the Committee of National Economy, Trade and Labour Matters, the Committee on Cabinet Affairs and the Standing Orders Committee. During the same period, he served as Zambia’s Representative to the Africa, Caribbean and Pacifi c-European Union Joint Parliamentary Assembly (ACP-EU JPA) where he was elected as Rapporteur on Aid and Development Effectiveness. In February 2018, he was appointed as Member of the ACP Working Group on Post-Cotonou to defi ne future relations between ACP countries and the European Union following the expiration of the Cotonou Agreement in 2020. On 11th October 2018, he was again elected as Rapporteur on “The Strategic significance of the ACP-EU partnership”.

He is a Rhodes Scholar and holds a PhD. in Management, a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil) in Management Studies from the University of Oxford, United Kingdom and a B.A. degree (with Distinction) from the University of Zambia. He is a PEW Economic Freedom Fellow at Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA where he studied Transitional Economics. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors of Zambia (FIoDZ).

Dr. Kopulande has immense corporate experience having worked as a Management Consultant for Deloitte and Touche and held senior management positions in various private companies in Zambia. He also served as Board Chairman on several Government-owned companies.

He has very rich experience in Government, having served as Director of Industry in the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Comptroller/Permanent Secretary at the Office of the President, State House under late President Frederick J.T. Chiluba and later as Special Assistant to the President (Special Duties), the late Dr. Levy P. Mwanawasa with the responsibility of advising the Zambian Head of State on a variety of national and international issues as well as writing the President’s major speeches. He has a trail of major achievements in public office and is credited with numerous milestone innovations in policy development and infrastructure projects that he helped initiate. These innovations include the conceptualization and establishment of the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) from the amalgamation of various Government business support
institutions; the conceptualization of the Multi-Facility Economic Zones (MFEZ) Policy, the conceptualization and establishment of the Citizens Economic Empowerment Commission (CEEC); the conceptualization and establishment of the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit (DMMU); the conceptualization and establishment of the Presidential Housing Initiative
(PHI), etc.

Dr. Kopulande has extensive experience in economic development matters, particularly in the field of industrial and trade policy, economic policy formulation, small enterprise development, trade and investment promotion and creation of business friendly environment. He currently serves as a resource person for the African Union on matters of trade and investment policy and speaks at various AU events on the subject.

He is very passionate about girl-child education and the need to keep girls in school. On 2nd October, 2019, he moved a
Private Member’s Motion in Parliament, which was unanimously adopted, urging Government to start the distribution of free sanitary pads to girls in rural and poor areas of the Country. Following that, he established the Build Chembe Foundation (BCF) which started the pads distribution initiative. He was recently appointed as Chairman of Whisper a Dream Foundation
(WADF), a Zambian registered NGO focusing on teaching young girls about menstrual hygiene and sanitation in vulnerable communities and school girls across the country. Both BCF and WADF work to mobilize both local and international support and contributions to the distribution of sanitary pads which has been a major hinderance for girls’ progression in schools due
to the high cost.

Dr. Kopulande is a seasoned administrator, a self-driven goal-getter and visionary leader with strong management & organizational skills. He is highly resourceful, creative and maintains a wide network of contacts.