Deaven Jackson

November 1, 2010

BUSN 225

Zambia

One downfall for visitors when visiting other countries is that they do not witness the struggles, trials and tribulations a country might of went through to get to the point there at. Zambia is a prime example of perseverance and determination, during the 1960s and early 1970s Zambia had one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. Twenty years later it suffered major economic decline with appalling increases in the level of poverty. After its downfall Zambia has managed to emerge, the economic history of Zambia is divided into six stages during the pre colonization stage many of the people of Zambia were organized into chieftaincies and monarchies that developed a network of trading in copper, ivory, rhino horn and slaves. Before this stage took place economic decision making was confined to local communities, but as the economy began to flourish, the natural riches of the economy were exposed. The colonization era brought about the importance of copper; many were forced to work in the mines to pay for the high taxes on their homes with the creation of the hut tax. The Post Independence Boom encouraged the African Labor Force to form trade unions creating conglomerates like Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM). The Economic Decline in 1970’s and 1980’s stage showed the over dependence Zambia had on the copper mines and the growth of the 1960’s changed with the period between 1975 and 1990 the level of real GDP per capita declining by almost 30%. Change came with the Sustained Economic Reform of the 1990s three main goals were established 1) To restore macroeconomic stability 2) To facilitate private sector growth through reducing the role of the state from controlling prices, foreign trade restrictions and foreign currency transactions 3) To privatize and deregulate agricultural and