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Transformation of the Zambian Economy- Book Overview

By Michelo Maunga I am firm believer in the immense potential of our economy. In my readings, I have come to realize there are not many countries as endowed as Zambia. We have nearly every resource; land, minerals, water, tourist attractions and people. We are at the centre of Southern Africa, whilst also being the intersection between SADC and COMESA. Right now, we are at the cusp of a truly monumental point in our history. Underneath our soils, we have the oil of the future. What oil was to America, the gulf nations and the entire world economy, is what our metals (copper, nickel, manganese, lithium and cobalt) are for the energy of the future, renewable, clean energy. And so, I wrote this book to describe this great potential. It is only when we recognize what we have, that we can truly transform our economy. The book begins by describing our most recent economic history, particularly the decade between 2010 and 2020. Economics, itself, as a field, is current in nature. Therefor...
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ZAM at The Zambia-Japan Summit

By Michelo Maunga At the invitation of the Japanese Prime Minister, Shigeru Ishiba, President of the Republic of Zambia, Mr. Hakainde Hichilema, embarked on a 5-day state visit to the East Asian nation from the 2 nd to 7 th of February. The Head of State was accompanied by Ministers in the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Infrastructure and Urban Development and Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; in a delegation which included Director General of the Zambia Development Agency, Dr. Albert Halwampa and President of the Zambia Association of Manufacturers, Mr. Ashu Sagar. In a stay that included high level engagements, the penultimate day would see President Hichilema grace a gathering of Japanese and Zambian firms, organized jointly by ZDA and the Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO). President Hichilema was slated to deliver a key note address at The Business Forum, followed by remarks from Dr. Samuel Maimbo, Zambia’s candidate for the AFDB Presidency,...
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Overcoming Import Dependency Through Local Content

By Michelo Maunga The Zambian economy.is heavily reliant on imports, with sectors such as manufacturing importing a large share of inputs annually, as revealed through various surveys conducted by the Zambia Association of Manufacturers.  By consequence, the Zambian Kwacha tends to perform poorly against other major currencies such as the United States Dollar and the British Pound. Various measures have been undertaken to reverse the trend over time. For instance, the Government has listed several commodities produced locally for a surcharge and has been driving the development of linkages between different sectors of the economy through local content and the Proudly Zambian Campaign. Simply defined, local content relates to; the consumption of domestically produced goods and services, employment of locals, infrastructure investments in host communities and supplier development, among others. It represents the spread of economic benefits within a community, district, country or...
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Energy Crisis: Lasting Solutions

By Michelo Maunga The current deficit in electricity production is effecting substantial harm on households, industry and the Zambian economy as a whole. For Manufacturing, the implications have been dire, it being a sector that is highly energy intensive. Load rationing is not a new phenomenon in Zambia. However, it has become increasingly frequent in recent years. This is attributable to the continuing effects of climate variability, with reduced rainfall patterns inevitably resulting in lower water levels in our reservoirs for hydroelectric power generation. These effects are only compounded by the composition of the country’s energy mix which relies on hydro-power for 83% of installed capacity, with majority of these sources located in the part of the country most severely affected by dry spells, Southern Province. Let us begin by reviewing the policy framework governing the domestic electricity sector as encompassed by the National Energy Policy (NEP) of 2019. This Policy was ...
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What Bumper Harvest Means for Manufacturing

By Michelo Maunga Zambian society collectively welcomed Government’s announcement on 22 nd May 2025 of a projected maize bumper harvest in the 2024/25 farming season. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, 3,655,645 MT of the staple crop is expected to be harvested this year. This is a development that will provide wide ranging benefits to the economy and the Zambian people; such as reducing mealie meal prices, slowing inflation, stabilizing the exchange rate and fostering broad-based social harmony, amongst others. Against a backdrop of the drought in the 2023/24 farming season and the associated failed harvest across much of the country, with this announcement, citizens have breathed a collective sigh of relief. Whilst much has been explored on the obvious implications of the bumper harvest, little is in the public domain on what it means for the manufacturing sector, which shall be the premise of this analysis. According to the Zambia Statistics Agency (2025), the manufact...
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Ensuring Economic Prosperity in 2025

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...
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A Thriving Economy With or Without Rain

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...
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