ABSTRACT

Zambia's political economy has been characterised by the dominance of the cheap-food imperative and suspicion of market mechanisms: witness the nationalisation of large parts of the economy at independence and, more importantly, the persistent appreciation of the real exchange rate, making diversification into non-traditional exports near-impossible. Two consequences of Zambia's dependence on minerals were noted the year before its independence in the excellent but gloomy essay by Robert Baldwin. In the case of the crucial mining industry, this entailed a transfer in 1969, at a price widely regarded as generous of the copper mines owned by the main multinationals operating in Zambia, Anglo American and Roan Selection Trust, into the hands of the Zambian-controlled enterprise Zambia Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM). The hope was by this means to break the hold of foreign multinationals over the Zambian economy and to transfer that power to the Zambian state in the person of UNIP.