ABSTRACT
In 1891 the British government granted control of an indeterminate region north of the Zambezi river to the British South Africa Company, formed two years earlier by Cecil Rhodes. The development of the copper industry had exercised little direct impact on Zambia’s predominantly subsistence economy. Over the period 1964–8, the Zambian government became increasingly dissatisfied with the pricing, dividend, credit and investment policies of the foreign companies which dominated Zambia’s economy. The Zambian government agreed to refer any disputes arising from the arrangement to the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. The influence of the minority shareholders might be less in practice than would appear from an analysis of the formal arrangements. The Take-over was accompanied by major changes to legislation governing mineral rights and taxation. The initiatives of 1969–70 failed to resolve either of the major issues which concerned the Zambian government - control of the mining industry and taxation and investment.
