54 AFRICAN COUNTRIES

The Zambian economy has improved considerably in the recent years. The real GDP growth rate is from 2005 to 2008 is about 6% per year, which has increased the agricultural production, increased performance in manufacturing sector, exports in the mining sector, increased, growth in tourism  and new investments. During 2009, there was a decline in world commodity prices which hurt the demand and further the GDP, but a sharp rise in the copper prices and an abundant maize crop Zambia began to recover. Some of the prominent sectors of the Zambian economy are:

Sector % age Contribution to GDP(2007) Agriculture,forestry and fishing 20.10% Mining and quarrying 4.10% Manufacturing  9.4% Electricity Gas and Water  2.7% Construction 22.00% Wholesale and Retail trade  15.80% Finance & insurance 7.70% Hotels,bars and restaurant 1.80% Transport Storage and communication 3.60% Real Estate and business services 2.70% Community Services 10.00%

Mining Sector

Zambia is gifted with several mineral resources like metals, gemstones, industrial minerals and potential energy resources including coal, hydrocarbons, and more recently, uranium. For many years, Zambia’s economy has been greatly dependent on mining, particularly on copper, cobalt and zinc. On global charts Zambia ranks seventh in the production of copper generating 3.3% of the western world’s production and second in cobalt.

The region also has significant quantities of selenium, silver and minor quantities of gold and platinum group elements which are produced as important by-products of the copper mining and processing. Around 300 gold occurrences have been reported throughout the country.The other metals prominent are zinc and lead from the deposits of Kabwe - ranks as one of the highest grade Zn-Pb deposits in the world.

Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing Sector

After the World War II, the agriculture sector of Zambia developed rapidly because of the modernization of the entire rail – road transport system. This improvement brought about a betterment in the system of imports of agriculture products. The Zambian climate is favorable for agricultural production and has abundant arable land receiving 650mm in the southern part of the country and 1800mm in the North each year. Ground water resources are also abundant in the Congo/Zaire and Zambezi river basins.

As the living standards of Zambia improved simultaneously there was better production of agricultural products, export of crops like tobacco and cotton lead to the growth of economy. The main subsistence crops are corn, cassava and sorghum and the major cash crops sugarcane, peanuts, tobacco and cotton. One of the most widely exported crop of Zambia is tobacco. The major source of irrigation of the fields is rain water. The government plans to increase its funding in the agriculture sector from the current 1.6 percent of the GDP to 2.3 percent in 2010.  

Forest

The forest reserve of Zambia is around 26,000 sq miles (67,300 sq km). The major area of plantation for commercial timber is the copper belt, where there have been plantings of exotic softwoods. In the southwest region there are extensive areas of Zambezi teak. A major concern is of forest destruction due to demands for charcoal in the towns, charcoal is the most popular cooking fuel. The government has supported attempts to introduce energy-efficient charcoal stoves.

Fishing

Zambia has relatively rich fisheries because of the large amount of lakes, swamps and seasonally inundated floodplains. Particularly important is the Lua pula valley, which supplies the Copper belt. The lake Tangayika, the Lukanga swamp and Zambezi are the main areas available for fishing. The fishes found in these areas are Nile perch, Kapenta and Lusaka. Most fish is smoked before being trucked to market.

Manufacturing Sector

The manufacturing sector is considered to be one of the leading sectors for the revitalization of the economy in the strategy for Zambia’s socio-economic development and poverty reduction. The country's manufacturing sector comprises of companies in food processing, beverages, textiles, leisure and sporting equipment. The activities majorly include the smelting and refining of copper and other metals and metal products, petroleum refining, the production of fertilisers, chemicals, explosives, cement, tobacco products and textiles.

Tourism

The number of tourists visiting Zambia continues to increase even after an international financial crisis. Even after the rise in visa fees for inbound tourists in early 2008 it did not deter the country from recording a 5% increase in the number of tourists visiting the country, with incoming tourism earnings have grown by almost 8%. This growth can be attributed to the fact that an increasing number of people are being attracted to the country. The government has introduced the “Visit Zambia Campaign 2005-2010” to promote and market the country internationally. These efforts have helped to boost the number of tourists visiting the country and to increase awareness of Zambia as a travel destination both amongst local and international tourists. The target for this campaign is of achieving at least one million tourist arrivals by 2010.

The travel and tourism sector in Zambia could generate a significant impact on its economy, jobs and help in reducing poverty. The government is planning to develop new tourism resorts to attract more foreign visitors to the country. Another potential area for development is Kasaba Bay, which is required to be developed in order to foster the development of tourism in the Northern and Lua pula circuits. Other support projects for tourism include road rehabilitation, hotel construction, and the electrification of key areas in tourism resort areas.

Power and Energy Sector

At present the firewood and charcoal accounts for 80% of Zambia’s total energy consumption. The entire amount of petroleum consumed by Zambia is imported. If current trend of wood depletion continues, an energy crisis is likely to affect many people in the coming future.

The National grid connects 20% of the population out of which 2% is to the rural areas. Despite this Zambia is a net exporter of electricity. Export in the year 2006 amounted to 547,326 kilowatts. The rural areas get limited access to sustainable energy to add value to their products and are therefore forced to sell all their produce in its basic raw commodity form. They are therefore unable to increase their incomes and remain locked in poverty.

For Further Reference

African Economic Outlook

Zambia Country Profile - BBC

World Bank

Budget Speech of Zambia - 2010