Background
Zambia is a sub-tropical country situated on the central African plateau
with a surface area of 752,000 square kilometres, 11,890 of which is water.
The weather in Zambia is pleasant, with average temperatures of between
6 and 35 degrees Celsius. The country experiences three distinct seasons
- a cool dry season from May to August, a hot dry season from September
to November and a hot wet season form December to April. Zambia has amongst
the lowest population densities in Africa with a (youthful) population
of just over 10.4 million. It is highly urbanised, with one-fifth of the
population residing in and around the capital city of Lusaka and another
one-fifth on the 'Copperbelt' province, so called because of the copper
mines in this region whose main urban centres are Kitwe and Ndola.
Zambia enjoys a liberal, pro-business multi-party democracy with the
rule of law and respect for human rights as the fundamental tenets. The
judiciary is autonomous and separate from the executive and legislative
arms of Government. The legal system is based mostly on English common
and customary law.
The mining of copper and cobalt, and associated industries has been
the mainstay of the Zambian economy and has traditionally driven its economic
growth. However, the country is trying to diversify to tourism and agriculture.
The Economy
Zambia in the main pursues market-oriented economic policies with no
exchange controls on current and capital transactions. Recent economic
performance is summarised below:
Key economic indicators 2001 to 2004:
| Indicator |
Actual
2001 |
Actual
2002 |
Actual
2003 |
Target
2004 |
| Economic growth |
5.2% |
3% |
4.3% |
3.5% |
| Inflation |
18.7% |
26.7% |
17.2% |
15% |
| Budget deficit |
4.7%
of GDP |
3.3%
of GDP |
5%
of GDP |
2%
of GDP |
Reserve build-up
(Growth) |
Dropped
by US $150 million |
US
$149 million |
1.3
months import cover |
1.5
months import cover |
| Source:
Minister of Finance and National Planning budget speeches
|
|
Performance of major economic
sectors have been as follows:
| Sector |
2001 |
2003 |
2003 |
| Agriculture |
5%
|
(4.1%) |
(2.6%)
|
| Mining and Quarrying |
3.3% |
16% |
14% |
| Tourism |
2.2% |
4.7% |
24.7% |
| Manufacturing |
6.3% |
5.8% |
4.2% |
| Construction |
13.9% |
17.4% |
11.5% |
| Transport, storage and communication |
N/A |
5.4% |
2.8% |
Source: Minister of Finance and National Planning
budget speeches
N/A: Data not available |
|
The GDP was US$ 4.3 billion in 2003 and the GNI per capita was
US$ 380.
