Zambia

Zambia is an amazing country located in southern Africa. The state has a rich history and culture. The country also offers good investment and business opportunities. Zambia is rich in mineral resources. Tourism business, mining, manufacturing and other areas are also promising.

General information

Official name of the country — Republic of Zambia. The state occupies an area of ​​752,614 km² (38th in the world). The population is 20,435,101 people (as of 2024).

About 90% of the country's indigenous population belongs to the nine largest ethnolinguistic groups — Nyanja Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, Tumbuka, Lunda, Luvale, Kaonda, Nkoya and Lozi.

The official language of Zambia, adopted in correspondence, education, culture, government, office work, business, media and everyday communication, — English. At the same time, the importance of local languages ​​is preserved. In addition to official English, the country's 73 ethnic groups mostly speak various dialects of the Bantu language.

According to the Constitution, Zambia is a Christian nation, while maintaining the human right to freedom of conscience, faith or religion. The country professes Christianity (Catholics, Lutherans, Anglicans, Adventists, Pentecostals, etc.) and Christian-African cults of 50-75% of the country's population, including Catholics 28%, Muslims make up about 5%.

The official currency of the country is the Zambian Kwacha.

Lusaka — the largest city and capital of Zambia, its political, industrial and cultural center. The city is home to the Lusaka Stock Exchange, founded in 1993. Lusaka — cultural center of Zambia. Most of the country's educational institutions are concentrated here.

Ndola — Zambia's second largest city. The administrative center of the copper-producing province of the Copperbelt.

Kitwe-Nkana — a city in central Zambia, the third most populous, a transport hub and an important industrial center of the country. Near the city there is a large deposit of copper and copper-nickel ores. Zambia's largest copper smelter is located here, producing up to 200,000 tons of copper per year. The city also has machine-building enterprises, chemical, furniture, food and clothing industries.

Livingston (local name — Maramba) — city ​​in Zambia, in the Southern Province of the country. Over the past 10 years, despite the decline of industry and the closure of textile factories that are unable to compete with Asian goods, the city has experienced a renaissance in tourism. Tourists are mainly attracted by the Victoria Falls, the bridge named after it and the Mosi-ao-Tunya National Park. The city is attracting a flow of investment into the hotel chain and the infrastructure of shops and restaurants.

Chingola — a city in central Zambia, in the Copper Belt province. The main branch of the economy — mining of non-ferrous metals in the Nchanga deposit, the largest copper quarry in the country. Copper ore is a source of raw material for the mining and metallurgical plant located next to the deposit.

The territory of Zambia is divided into 10 provinces (the 10th province of the country, Muchinga, was formed in 2011 as a result of the division of the Northern Province), whose administrations are headed by leaders with the rank of minister. The provinces, in turn, are divided into municipal districts, the total number of which currently amounts to 103 units.

History, geography, culture, mentality

The state of Zambia takes its name from the Zambezi River. The area was originally inhabited by the Khoisan people. About 2,000 years ago, the Bantu people migrated from the Congo Basin and gradually replaced them.  The first Europeans to arrive here were Portuguese explorers following routes established centuries ago by Arab slave traders.

The famous British explorer David Livingstone, traveling up the Zambezi in search of a route deep into Africa, described these amazing places and nature, magnificent lakes and waterfalls. Livingstone's works and writings inspired missionaries to come to the Zambezi region. Beginning in 1855, explorers, hunters and prospectors flocked to Zambia, seeking whatever riches the country had to offer.

In 1890, the area became known as Northern Rhodesia and was administered by the British South Africa Company, owned by Cecil John Rhodes.

At about the same time, extensive copper deposits were discovered in the area now called the green copper belt. The indigenous population has mined ore here for centuries.

The colonists began mining copper ore on an industrial scale. The main sources of labor were Africans, who had to earn money to pay the “hut tax” imposed by the colonists. European settlers, freeing up land for expansion and development of new mines, began to expel the local population. In 1924, the colony was placed under direct British control.

On October 24, 1964, the country declared independence.

Landlocked Zambia has borders with eight countries: in the northeast — with Tanzania (338 km), in the east — from Malawi (837 km), in the southeast — with Mozambique (419 km), in the south — from Zimbabwe (797 km), in the southwest — with Botswana (2.6 km) and Namibia (233 km), in the west — with Angola (1110 km) and in the north with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1930 km).

On the Zambia-Zimbabwe border, on the Zambezi River there are waterfalls, including the famous Victoria Falls.

Zambia's most important mineral resources: coal, copper ore, cobalt, lead, zinc, tin, gold. There are deposits of iron ore, uranium, nickel, fluorites, some precious stones, etc. Coal deposits are located in the south of the country, near the northwestern coast of Lake Caribou, as well as in the central regions of Zambia. In terms of copper reserves, Zambia occupies one of the leading positions among all countries in the world. Copper deposits are confined to the copper belt of Central Africa, on the border with the DRC. Tin deposits — quite small, all of them are located in the south of the country.

The culture of Zambia is special and unique. All the art of the country is embodied in architectural structures and painting. The visual arts of the republic, which originated even BC, are also considered ancient. In the rock paintings you can see animals, people, and various types of professions. Zambian customs and traditions are closely related to music and dance. Ritual actions that are performed to the accompaniment of drums are considered unusual here. Mediums or sorcerers must participate in them. The country's culture also features colorful mask dances that represent spirits. National peculiarity of Zambia — massive spread of superstitions (for example, a chameleon is considered a cursed animal that brings various misfortunes) and belief in magic among the country's residents (especially in rural areas).

Zambians amaze visitors with their extraordinary friendliness. The streets of Zambia's towns and villages are always full of smiling faces. Regardless of what nationality they belong to, Zambians will always be happy to help a guest of their country and give him a surprisingly warm welcome.

During your stay in Zambia, you must follow the standard rules of behavior characteristic of African countries: it is advisable not to walk along the central streets of the city in the dark, when visiting densely populated areas of the city, do not wear jewelry made of precious metals and stones, monitor the safety of travel bags and other personal items.

Power

Form of government: Zambia is a presidential republic. The President is the head of the executive branch (cabinet of ministers) and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

The highest legislative body: the National Assembly is a unicameral parliament consisting of 164 deputies.

Economy

Over the past decade, Zambia continues to confidently demonstrate high rates of economic growth, compared with the relatively moderate overall background of most other countries of the African continent located south of the Sahara. During this period, the country's economy showed relatively high resistance to the negative factors of the ongoing global recession.

The main driver of growth remains investment activity in the mining sector, the sustainable development of which has a stimulating effect on such industries as construction, energy and transport.

The most significant factor in economic growth is the sustainable development of the processing industry, mining industry, construction sector, transport and communications. And although copper production continues to maintain its traditional role as the main pillar of the economy, providing up to 70% of export earnings, in recent years there has been a noticeable increase in the volume of “non-traditional” copper production. export. In the medium term, the main macroeconomic indicators will remain at a high level.

Investment in infrastructure development, primarily in mining, energy and road construction, and, in particular, large-scale investment in projects under the five-year road infrastructure development program, which includes the construction of 1,500 kilometers of roadway, will contribute to maintaining sustainable growth of the economy as a whole. Increasing government spending on infrastructure, with over $5 billion allocated to road construction projects, ensures continued growth in the construction industry.

In socio-economic policy, the state will have to focus special attention on implementing programs to ensure employment of the population (primarily youth), improving the system of accounting and control over the activities of the state apparatus and strengthening the fight against corruption.

The manufacturing sector generates only about one tenth of GDP. Such a distinctive feature of the country's geographical location as the lack of access to the sea expectedly affects the high level of transport costs, which significantly increase the cost of the final product (on average by almost 40%).

The food processing sector (production of food and beverages) accounts for more than two-thirds of value added in manufacturing.

In general, the progressive growth in industry over the last decade is associated with the relatively dynamic development of agribusiness, and, in particular, its leading industry — food (food and beverage production) and tobacco industries, as well as the growing need for raw materials and supplies from the construction sector.

Agriculture, from a socio-economic point of view, remains the most important sector of the economy, providing jobs for 60% of the total informally employed population of about 4.9 million people in Zambia, and for 8% of all formally employed (total the number of formally employed people is 625 thousand people).

Zambia has extensive mineral resources — metallurgical raw materials, primarily copper and cobalt, as well as zinc, lead, silver and gold, precious stones, energy raw materials — coal, uranium. The country has significant potential hydropower resources, allowing it not only to meet the energy needs of the national economy, but also to export electricity to neighboring countries in the southern African region (the current volume of electricity generated is estimated at 2,200 MW, while the volume of peak domestic demand does not exceed 1,900 MW). Over half of all energy consumed in Zambia comes from the country's extractive sector.

The mining industry remains the main source of export earnings, while the potential for its further development is largely limited by optimizing the cost structure within the mining sector. While the growth of competitiveness of the corresponding processing industries is constrained by such objective factors as logistics costs and the relative remoteness of the main markets for finished products and semi-finished copper products.

The Copperbelt and Northwestern provinces, which contain Africa's largest reserves of some of the world's highest-grade copper and cobalt ores, are the main centers of investment activity in the country's mining sector. Most copper deposits located in Zambia are characterized by a high metal content in the ore (2-3% compared to the global average of 0.8%).

The main reserves of zinc and lead are concentrated in the area of Kabwe (Central Province), 130 km from the capital of the country, Lusaka. Mining in this area continued for 90 years until the richest reserves of sulfide ores containing lead and zinc were depleted by 1994. At the same time, according to existing estimates, about 1.1-1.6 million tons of silicate ore, also rich in lead and zinc, should remain in the suspended mining area. In addition, extensive rubble of mineral-rich waste and slag remai