Page 16 - Zambia Yellow Pages 2025

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sustainability of the LuSE has subsequently been dependent on
increasing the number and size of its listed companies. The Bond and
Derivatives Exchange (BaDEX) concluded its first live trade in April 2014.
Government remains committed to the growth of the local bourse to
facilitate long term financing for private sector investment.To attain this,
the Alternative Investment Market (Alt-M) was launched in April 2015 to
cater for emerging corporates that are yet to meet the listing
requirements on the main window.
SOCIETY & POLITICS
Considered to be one of the most stable countries in Africa as well as one
of the safest, Zambia is known for the warmth and friendly demeanour
of its people. In the World Economic Forum's 2020 Global Peace Index, it
was ranked the fourth most peaceful country in the region, after
Mauritius, Botswana and Ghana.
Zambia is presently undergoing a substantial demographic shift and is
one of the world's youngest countries by median age. At the time of the
2010 Census, its population had risen to 13.092 million from 9.885
million in 2000, representing a rapid growth rate of 2.8 percent per year,
a trend which is expected to continue. The Zambia Statistics Agency
estimates that the population had risen to 17.885 million by 2020.
The inhabitants of this multilingual country speak a variety of Bantu
languages as well as English, which became the official language after
independence in 1964. Since 1991, there has been an increased
emphasis on the seven national languages, which comprise Bemba (the
most widely spoken first language), Nyanja, Tonga, Lozi, Lunda, Luvale
and Kaonde. By some accounts there are a great diversity of other
languages and dialects spoken in the country - 83 varieties (excluding
the European, Indian and Khoisan languages) which are grouped into 26
dialect clusters.
Approximately 87 percent of Zambia's population is Christian, 1 percent
is Muslim or Hindu, and 12 percent adhere to other belief systems,
including indigenous religions (2010 National Census). Many people
combine Christianity and indigenous beliefs.
History
Formerly the territory of Northern Rhodesia, Zambia was an integral part
of Cecil Rhodes"Cape to Cairo' vision. The country was administered by
the British South Africa Company (1891-1923), thereafter becoming a
British protectorate and part of the Federation of Rhodesia and
Nyasaland in the 1950s, before achieving independence in 1964.
However, the history of the region stretches back much further, with the
earliest Homo sapiens having lived here more than 100 000 years ago.
The ancestors of most of Zambia's modern ethnic groups arrived from
present-day Angola and the DRC between the 16th and 18th centuries.
At this time, growing trade along both the Atlantic and Indian Ocean
coasts brought the first European visitors to the area, when Portuguese
explorers followed the trade routes from the coast into the interior. In
the 19th Century, successive upheavals in southern Africa as a result of
famine and the Zulu King Shaka's'difaqane' (forced migration) saw many
refugees resettling in Zambia, including the Nguni.
David Livingstone, the celebrated Scottish doctor, explorer and
missionary, first arrived in the region now known as Zambia in 1851,
searching for a route to the interior. A fierce critic of the slave trade,
Livingstone's efforts attracted other missionaries, later followed by a
stream of European prospectors and hunters. By 1910, some 1 500
Europeans had settled in the country.
Massive copper ore deposits were discovered in the north-central region
in the 1920s, following which advances in mining spurred both
development and immigration. Mining operations in the Copperbelt
area attracted a variety of European administrators, technicians and
skilled labourers. However, it was largely local Africans who worked the
mines, often under appalling conditions, in order to pay the 'hut tax'
introduced by the colonial administration.
In 1953 the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, encompassing
Northern Rhodesia (Zambia), Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe) and
Nyasaland (Malawi), was created by the British Government. The United
National Independence Party (UNIP), formed in 1959 by Kenneth
Kaunda, was at the forefront of calls to end British rule, and in 1964 the
federation was dissolved. On 24 October 1964 Northern Rhodesia
became the independent Republic of Zambia, with Kaunda elected its
first president. Re-elected in 1968 and 1973, Dr Kaunda served for a total
of 27 years.
The 1970s and 1980s were turbulent decades. Problems such as
economic mismanagement and a long drought were exacerbated by
falling copper prices and rising fuel costs. Furthermore, after imposing
sanctions on Ian Smith's white-ruled Rhodesia in 1965, Zambian
infrastructure was targeted by the Rhodesian army and traditional trade
routes through Rhodesia to the coast were disrupted. The construction
of the Tazama petroleum pipeline from Dar-es-Salaam to Ndola, and the
opening of the Tazara railway line between Zambia and Tanzania in
1975, alleviated this to some extent.
With the economy close to collapse, President Kaunda had little option
but to introduce economic austerity measures in the 1980s as a
condition for aid. The ensuing food shortages and unemployment led to
rioting and strikes, intensifying the mood for political change and the
abolition of Zambia's one-party state. In 1991 the constitution was
amended and opposition parties were legalised, with full elections
finally held in October 1991.
Democracy
Zambia is a presidential democracy, with multiparty elections having
been held every five years since 1991, when Frederick Chiluba's
Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) was elected on the
promise of both economic and political reform. The president is both
Head of State and Head of Government, and serves a maximum of two
five-year terms. Governance systems are strong, and Zambia has
demonstrated smooth transitions to new political parties for more than
a quarter of a century.
Under Chiluba, the civil service was reformed and a number of
government entities privatised, moves which saw relations with the IMF,
World Bank and private investors improve substantially. Chiluba's
successor, Levy Mwanawasa of the MMD, was elected in December 2001
and secured a second term in the 2006 elections. Important
achievements under Mwanawasa's New Deal Administration included
the launching of an anti-corruption campaign as well as a constitutional
review process to strengthen political accountability. President
Mwanawasa's death in office in August 2008 saw Vice President Rupiah
Banda assume the position of Acting President and narrowly win the
election held in October of the same year.
Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front (PF) defeated incumbent Rupiah
Banda in the 2011 general election. President Sata's ambitious
programme of action to uplift all of Zambia's people focused on
achieving higher and sustained economic growth while introducing
programmes to accelerate the socioeconomic empowerment of
citizens, especially the youth and women. Following the untimely
passing of incumbent President Sata on 28 October 2014, special
presidential elections were held in January 2015 and won by PF
candidate Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu. In August 2016, the PF Government
and President Lungu were re-elected in a closely contested race with his
main rival, Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National
Development (UPND). The next elections were held in August 2021 and
Hakainde Hichilema was elected as president.