Zambia

D

Manufacturing

Manufacturing, mining, and construction employ only 7 percent of the labor force but account for 25 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP). Principal activities were the smelting and refining of copper and other metals, vehicle assembly, petroleum refining, food processing, and the production of fertilizers, explosives, and textiles.

E

Currency and Banking

The decimal system of currency, issued in 1968, is based on the kwacha, consisting of 100 ngwee (4,464 kwachas equal U.S.$1; 2005 average). The country’s central bank is the Bank of Zambia (1964); commercial, development, and foreign banks are widely represented.

F

Foreign Trade

Imports—such as machinery and transport equipment, mineral fuels and lubricants, chemicals, food, and basic manufactured goods—totaled $1,253 million in 2002. Exports—chiefly copper and cobalt—totaled $930 million. Principal partners for exports are Japan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Taiwan, India, Belgium and Luxembourg (which constitute a single trading entity), France, and Malaysia; principal partners for imports are South Africa, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, Japan, Saudi Arabia, and the United States.

G

Transportation and Communications

Zambia has 1,273 km (791 mi) of railroads. A railroad from Zimbabwe runs to Livingstone, Lusaka, and Ndola, connecting with the DRC system, and then to Benguela on the Atlantic coast of Angola. The Tanzania-Zambia Railroad (Tazara) connects Lusaka with the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. Some 91,440 km (56,818 mi) of roads connect the towns of Zambia. Lusaka is served by an international airport. The government operates radio and television stations at Lusaka and Kitwe. In 1999 there were 149 radio receivers and 142 television sets in use for every 1,000 inhabitants.

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V

Government

Zambia is a republic with a president elected to a maximum of two five-year terms by direct universal suffrage. The president appoints a cabinet, which is headed by a prime minister. Zambia’s legislative body, the National Assembly, has 159 members: 150 popularly elected members, 8 members appointed by the president, and the speaker of the house. The 27-member House of Chiefs is an advisory body.

The United National Independence Party (UNIP) was Zambia’s sole legal political organization until 1990. In 1991 the legislature enacted a new constitution providing for a multiparty system and limiting presidential powers. An opposition group, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), won the 1991 general elections. The constitution was amended in 1996. In 2001 the MMD emerged from general elections with less than half of the seats in the National Assembly, but remained the largest single party.

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