Introduction

The Great Rift Valley, which cleaves the earth from the Lower Zambezi River in Southern Zambia to the headwaters of the River Jordan in the Middle East, is now known to be one of the cradles of the human race, and Zambia’s present population lives on lands that have been inhabited by our forbearers for almost uncountable eons. Situated in South Central Africa, Zambia has a land surface area of approximately 753,000 square kilometres, and borders the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Angola, Malawi, Namibia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Botswana. The population of Zambia at about 10.3 million has a literacy rate of 79 percent. The system of government of the Republic of Zambia is Presidential Democracy and elections are held on a regular basis every five years. The current President is Mr. L.P. Mwanawasa S. C. who assumed the Presidency in January 2002.

Zambia has sub-tropical vegetation and climate conditions, with a weather that is characterized by three seasons – warm wet, cool dry winter, and hot dry. The temperature averages between 26º and 32º Celsius.

Zambia has one of the lowest population/land ratios in Africa, with only 10.3 million people in a country half the size of Europe. The employment opportunities offered in the post independence era in the copper mines and associated industries led to a strong rural-urban migration. The result is that Zambia is one of the most urbanized countries in Africa. About one fifth of the population lives on the Copperbelt to the north of the capital, but the biggest concentration of people is in Lusaka itself with an estimated population of nearly 2 million. This has resulted in massive tracts of uninhabited land across the country.

Zambia is fed and shaped by three great rivers, bordered by three massive lakes and big, big skies.  Zambia beckons to the intrepid, the adventurous - those who want to step off the conveyor belt of mass tourism. The legendary David Livingstone first saw the awesome glory of the Victoria Falls from Zambia - his memory is enshrined in the nearby town of Livingstone and his heart is buried in this beautiful land. And at the heart of Zambia lies the modern and vibrant capital city Lusaka.

I invite the reader to visit Zambia, not only on business but also as a full-fledged tourist and experience the finest African safaris available. See the astonishing wildlife of Luangwa Valley, home of the legendary walking safari; the graceful lechwe antelope filling the vast plains of Busanga and Bangweulu in their tens of thousands; the annual wildebeest migration of the Liuwa Plains; the white-water rafting frenzy of the Zambezi River; the adrenaline choked bungi jump off Victoria Falls Bridge; the limitless expanse of lakes Kariba and Tanganyika, fishing, diving, house-boating, skiing and paddling, canoeing, birding and wildlife safaris par excellence. Visit www.africa-insites.com/zambia/ to learn more.

In the realm of economic potential, Zambia possesses an abundance of mineral resources, arable land and great amounts of water for development. There is a person-power pool of skilled and semi-skilled workers, trained professionals, and technologists at internationally competitive rates.

Zambia has four International Airports (Lusaka, Livingstone, Mfuwe and Ndola), five secondary fields and five airstrips. There are two rail networks controlled by Zambia Railways and Tanzania-Zambia Railways Authority. The total road network covers about 35,200 kilometres of which 6,500 kilometres are paved. The rail, road and air links connect to her eight neighbours and provide access to seaports. The country has four major hydro power stations and several of medium size and exports energy to neighbouring countries. Zambia is also a member if Intelsat and has an earth station with fully automatic exchanges.


Investment Climate

During the last decade, Zambia has undergone substantial structural transformation. A rapidly developing nation, Zambia has proved herself to be a shining example of an open, progressive and liberal economy driven by a dynamic private sector. Through cooperative and interactive policy formulation and decision-making, mutually supportive relations have been forged that are in the interests of both investors and the nation. 

One of Zambia's major policy objectives since the early 1990s has been the stimulation of private sector investment in the country's economy. Government has addressed this aspect through the provision of several attractive incentives and measures, which would guarantee investment security in a liberalized economy. These are backed by an enabling environment of economic policies that encourage sustainable growth and emphasize private sector development based on the following: removal of all forms of consumer subsidies; lack of foreign exchange restrictions; removal of price control; de-regulation of interest and exchange rates; privatisation of state enterprises; and, stock exchange and merchant banking financial market.

The Zambia Investment Centre was created to facilitate, regulate, coordinate and promote the establishment of business enterprises. It was established with a view of making it a one-stop facility for investors and efforts towards achieving this continue in earnest. 

The following websites are accessible for further information: www.zamnet.zm; www.coppernet.zm; www.zambia.zm; www.zic.org.zm; www.zana.zm; and, www.sadcreview.com.


Zambia – India Relations 

Zambia and India have always worked for strengthening ties between the people of the two nations in the fields of trade and industry, agriculture, technical cooperation and education. The number of Indian business executives as well as tourists that visit Zambia has increased substantially of late. Besides this, there is a large community of Zambians of Indian origin in the country with strong family and business ties to India, the land of their ancestors. The government and people of Zambia attach great value and importance to the ties between India and Zambia, which started long before Zambia achieved independence almost thirty-nine years ago.

In the period of 2000-2001 the total bilateral trade amounted to US$ 32.97 million, and this is being expanded and diversified at every opportunity that comes along, as there is great potential for its further enhancement. The potential is greatest at the private sector level considering that both countries have embarked upon large-scale dis-investment and privatisation programmes. In fact the sky is the limit with regard to economic ties between Zambia and India.


Zambia Country Data