Zambia’s economy: 1964-2004

Abstract

Everyone knew, of course, that the copper price is purely the result of external factors. Yet, in post-independence Zambia there was no feeling whatsoever that “seven years of plenteousness” (Joseph in Egypt) might be followed by many more than seven years of famine. Six years after independence the March 1970 edition of Z, a beautifully illustrated magazine published by the Zambia Information Services, reports on impressive infra-structural achievements such as a new bridge over the Lufupa in Kasempa. This will definitely boost “our economic development traffic” between the country’s capital and North-Western Province, the article assures us. There is more on the economy: gravel extraction in Mongu, for example, and home woven textiles and glass fiber boats in Kafue. In terms of format the magazine could well compare to Time or Newsweek those days. Its price: 10n. The n stands for ngwee, the Kwacha cent that in those days was worth a Dutch “stuiver” (five cents of the Guilder). In forty years the Kwacha has dropped from ZK 0.2 to ZK 2,500 to the old Guilder (ZK 5,500 to the Euro). Its value, in other words, is now 1/12500th what it used to be in those plentiful years after independence.