Should  we finally say the ''fixing'' has failed?


I think you can all agree by now that confidence and fluency in English will never be able to overcome action.  As an independent nation, Zambia needs to improve its economy via deeds rather than just words. Does this imply that all of Zambia's economists are only qualified by degrees or have they failed to apply their expertise to strengthen the country's economy?  When compared to mid-2021, the cost of some basic goods have grown by more than 50%. Discuss the costs of Mealie meal, cooking oil, veggies, and numerous other items. Do you think things are going well for our economy? How do you feel about our currency's exchange rates compared to the US Dollar and other strong currencies? 


Zambia economy droping
Image Credit: Global economy gauge.  Declining economy


Economy is  the state of a country or region in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services and the supply of money (Oxford dictionary). Simply you do not need high level of understanding to comprehend the meaning of an economy.

How many businesses in Zambia are making goods for export? How well is the kwacha doing against other strong currencies? What is the income distribution pattern for the bulk of the population?  If the responses to those questions are affirmative, we can classify our economy as either strong or failing.

There could be a plethora of explanations behind Zambia's economic downturn. The people and the government system can collaborate to improve a country's economic situation. But the government system is crucial. What oversight on the part of our government is causing this kind of economic depression? It's really a complicated answer. 

I'll provide logical points about the causes and indicators of a failed economy in this post so you can decide whether the Zambian economy is doing well or not. 

What are the indicators of a failed economy?

For you to know if you have a faild economy here are the signals:

1. Currency depreciation


Why is Zambian kwacha depreciating in 2023?

The value of the Kwacha fell 16.8% versus the US dollar on average in the first quarter of 2023, to K19.52. The main causes were tighter circumstances in the global financial markets, excess demand, and negative market sentiments related to drawn-out external debt restructuring negotiations.
kwacha depreciation
Image credit: Diggers News on X

2. Inflation

A rise in the cost of goods and services is known as inflation. The Consumer Price Index (CPI), which calculates the percentage change in the cost of a basket of goods and services that households consume, is the most well recognized indicator of inflation.

For Zambia, September 2023 saw a rise in annual inflation from 10.8% percent in August 2023 to 12.0% percent. This indicates that prices for goods and services rose by 12.0% on average.

3. Lack of employment

If eligible individuals are available to offer a service yet no available institutions or organization to employ them it is called unemployment. How many are unemployed in Zambia? You know the answer and we should not pretend that all is well. Its aclea sign that the economy is failing. 
Zambia's unemployment rate is predicted by Trading Economics global macro models and analysts to reach 6.20 percent by the end of 2023. Out of 52 African countries whose data was available, Zambia came out number 27 according  the global rank on unemployment.

4. Increased poverty levels 

Poverty is a condition in which a person or a community lacks financial resorces and essentials for maintaining a minimum standared of living. According to international poverty line, $2.15 is the minimum amount that normal standard of living should cost per day. Or if you cannot afford 3 meals a day then you are most likey poor. In connection to Zambia, what do you think?

The incidence of poverty in Zambia was expected to have increased from 54.4 percent in 2015 to 60.0 percent in 2022 at the national level (60 out of every 100 people in Zambia were considered poor during the survey period). 


Why are prices of goods in Zambia keep going up?


When it comes to fuel, mealie meal, and other goods, the costs are rising faster than what some residents can afford. However, in Zambia, we grow maize, which is used to make mealie meal. They claim that the production costs of mealie meal are excessive; therefore, why isn't the government able to address this basic problem? Large tracts of land in Zambia can be used to produce maize, increasing its availability and lowering the cost of producing mealie meal. I am aware that human resources and electricity also play a role, but doesn't Zesco handle that?  Human resources is something we should not give an excuse of. We have many youths who need jobs and engaging them into maize farming and processing can act as empowerment. 

Yes foreign exchange has increased on the kwacha side but why should there be finance ministry that is not doing anything about it? Let them do their jobs to improve the currency power. I don't know how that can be done but all i know is there are other countries able to do it why can't Zambia follow?


What can our government do to improve the Zambian economy?


An increase in the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the total value of all goods and services produced in a nation in a given year, is used to gauge economic growth. Economic growth is influenced by numerous factors. But no one element regularly generates the precise or ideal level of growth that an economy needs. Recessions, regrettably, can be brought on by outside causes like geopolitical and geofinancial events.

Improve agriculture


Honestry speaking, Zambia is rich in natural resourses including agricultural land. Go to eastern province you will be given 10 hectors of land for free. Why can't the government go there and use it to produce crops that can support Zambian food  and export the rest? Organise managers and  machinery to invest into agriculture. Employ commercial irrigation systems in all provinces of Zambia to improve our food security and sources of income. We can do it and all we need are right people managing such investiments. Engage people who can teach our locals on how to do certain things.

Reduce inequality


Am happy with the new government it does not tolerate theft and corruption in public institutions. Sharing the little resouces well can improve people's lives in communities. 

Do away with borrowing


Borrowing is the toxic economic step you can try. Even at a home level borrowing needs high level of financial management for it to yied profit before you use the borowed money to pay back the debts. Government should play its cards nicely to avoid borrowing or practice good borrowing. We shall be spending our 

Change the school carricurum and improve education


Most of our Zambian school carriculum are full of theory without beneficail skills for economic growth. What a waste of time. Improve the education system so that it should produce skilled graduates not theorists that cannot even develop means of retesting standards on imported goods. What's the point of having people with big papers yet they can't produce anyhting at the end of the day? You know what am taliking about, there are subjects that does completely nothing,  they don't add any value to our lives in the society.

Set up a technology manufacturing company.


We are moving into a technological era and establishing a conpmany for that can improve our economy. A company for example that can be assembling smartphones, manufacturing computer parts or networking equipment to export to malawi and other neighbouring vcountries. That can be done so we stop importing the useles feature phones made buy students in China. Those substandaard mobile phones are encauraging lazziness since they are cheap and poor quality. 

Scrutinize foreign investors


Most of these foregn investors are useless they come to just eploit our citizens of employment. They should be compliant with tax payments. Reducing tax for foreign companies has never profited Zambia to be honest. Charge them normal tax and make sure they comply or else the company should be closed. There should be no room to start treating Zambia as a cheap nation for their own gains. What happens when they make money? They take it to their home countries reducing reducing money circulation on Zambian market. 


Restrict free services 


Many will argue with me but the truth is that lazziness when encauraged can destroy the nationa's economy. Many free services in Zambia makes people see no need to work hard since the government provides. Remeber economic growth needs production but if youths spend whole day drinking and doing nothing, who do you think will increase the gross domestic product for Zambia? The reason they start drinking as early as 6hours is because services are free even if you dont work, your children will go to school for free, they will get health services for free, so what's the point of working?

Honestly if they are given reasons to work hard, people will help improve the economy of Zambia. 

African governments thinks offering free services can improve economy but little did they know it ecourages laziness. Govermnet needs citizens' efforts in improving the economy of a country. Therefore, lazy nation cannot succed. There should only be certain services offered for free and to a certain age group or type of people not everyone. We should never be cheated by the foreign aid we are getting from developed countries they just want to extend powers over us. If they give you resources for free, do you think you will resist any commands from them?

Summary

This post is based on my opinion and some research about how our nation can improve economi cally. I have given points on signs of failing economy and how Zambian government can improve it. We can help the government to reach desired level of economic growth. 

No hard feelings, am just a blogger and you too can contribute what you think can help Zambian economy to improve. We can't keep quiet as if all is well.