Economic Happenings in Zambia

By Michelo Maunga 2024 is behind us. The year that saw rolling power outages never before seen in this country, is in the past. 2025 beckons. And with it the hopes of this country rest for a new beginning and respite from the hardships that befell us the year prior. What must we do to ensure that 2025 is indeed an improvement on 2024? Away from the President, his Cabinet, what role must we as citizens play in actualizing this aspiration? Having spent my 2024 peering through newspapers and economic articles, as I do every year, I believe I have a modest understanding of the happenings in our economy. There are, nevertheless, many amongst us who indeed have a better understanding of the Zambian economy. The foregoing, notwithstanding, I believe my opinion is worth some salt. The Zambian economy narrowly avoided recession in 2024. Besides the economic hardships, which have been well articulated by scribes across this country, the preceding year set in motion a humanitarian crisis that...

I was reading an article this morning in one of the newspapers where Chief Government Spokesperson, Honourable Cornelius Mweetwa announced to the nation that the state of National Disaster and Emergency has been extended owing to the current dry spell. The hopes of Zambians were for a more favourable rain season, compared to the last year’s which was characterized by the El-Nino weather phenomenon. According to forecasts, most parts of the country are to receive normal to above normal rainfall in 2024 to 2025. The persistence of dry spells, however, particularly this December, has put into question these projections. What will a second consecutive failed rain season mean for the Zambian economy? Do we have the capacity to withstand such successive shocks? How do we adapt to climatic variations and ensure economic growth in spite of them? Every Zambian can attest to the hardships of 2024. Power generation has been severely disrupted due to depleted water reservoirs for hydro-power gen...

By Michelo Maunga As we prepare for the presentation of the 2025 National Budget, expectations amongst all sectors of Zambian society are high. This will be the penultimate budget of President Hichilema’s first term in office. Thus it will be crucial in consolidating what the present regime has been endeavoring to achieve since 2021. A process that began in April and which will culminate in Dr. Situmbeko Musokotwane’s address to Parliament in September, the past few months have characterized by countless consultative meetings and submissions to the Ministry of Finance and National Planning. As we near its end, I speak for much of our society when I say, we await with bated breaths for the contents of that famous Copper briefcase. The National Budget speaks to the priorities of Government in a given calendar year. Generally, it is themed on a particular policy objective. In the 2022 National Budget, for instance, Government placed its focus on the Mining Sector and Human Capital. Th...

By Michelo Maunga Since assuming office in 2021, the UPND Government has progressively raised allocations to the Constituency Development Fund. From a meagre K1.6 million, as at 2024, each constituency is due to receive K30.8 million. Going by the recent trajectory, it is expected that this allocation may well rise once more in the 2025 National Budget. CDF has 3 components; namely, Community Projects, Youth & Women Empowerment and Secondary School & Skills Bursaries. 60% of the fund goes to Community projects whilst the remaining 40% is split equally between empowerment and education programs. The implication of this is that there will be and has been an influx of students in the Technical Education, Vocational and Entrepreneurship training system. The question that remains, however, is whether the TEVET system is able to absorb the demand that has been created for skills development. This author believes without addressing the bottlenecks in the skills development framewo...

 By  Michelo Maunga The country is in the grips of yet another Cholera outbreak. As at yesterday (8 th January 2024), some 200+ new cases were recorded. Presently, Lusaka is the epicenter of the pandemic, with the spread continuing to other parts of the country. As has been the case in recent history, the commencement of the rainy season seems to coincide with the onset of this deadly disease’s onslaught on our society. This begs the question as to how, as Zambians, we have made ourselves vulnerable to cholera, which comes, primarily, as a result of poor hygiene? Seen in light of sanitation levels in Lusaka, it is no surprise that we have made an acquaintance with this detestable illness. One cannot walk our streets without laying eyes on over-filled refuse bins and all manner of garbage lining our city. Many members of our society seem content with discarding their trash indiscriminately, even when in close proximity to a litter bin. As more people do the same, this tras...

By Michelo Maunga Within the Zambian context, the People’s Republic of China has featured prominently in recent weeks and months. Beginning with the role of the Chinese in our debt restructuring agreement, to President Hichilema’s just-ended state visit, the all-weather friendship between our two countries is at its strongest. Much has already been written on the results of this trip; my analysis will, therefore, direct the conversation toward a less explored but contemporary aspect of Chinese Industry, specifically, Smart Manufacturing. Before, I delve into this, allow me to provide some context. China has over the years positioned itself as the hub of the world’s manufacturing. Capitalizing on an abundance of cheap labour, having only been recently overtaken by India as the most populous nation, multinationals the world over relocated their production to the East African nation. Added to this was the widespread implementation of Special Economic Zones, further raising the country’s v...