COUNTRY REPORT: ZAMBIA

BACKGROUND ON ZAMBIA

Zambia is a landlocked country, and has a population of about 9.8 million people. It borders on seven countries: Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. The natural resources in Zambia are copper, cobalt, zinc, lead, coal, emeralds, gold, silver, uranium and hydropower. In the year 2001, the labour force in Zambia was 3.4 million and was distributed as follows:

• Agriculture: 85 percent
• Industry: six percent, and
• Service: nine percent.

Zambia is a typical African economy; it does not have a strong industrial and commercial base and is thus vulnerable to international market forces. The economy is dependent on raw materials, especially copper. Whatever happens to the prices of copper on the international market affects the Zambian economy. In addition, the economy is also dependent on agriculture, which is also not a reliable source of income because it is affected by climatic changes. Zambia’s integration into the world capitalist economy was reinforced by its membership to multilateral institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It also belonged to the International Copper Exporting Countries (ICEC). The ICEC was unable to emulate OPEC in establishing high copper prices. The decrease in copper prices meant lower revenue for the Zambian state because it is dependent on copper revenue. Another challenge for the postcolonial state of Zambia is that its main trading partners are European countries. Zambian officials complain about the fact that money is transferred from Zambia to these countries as payment for skills, loans, technology and other services.

Economic Crisis and the Introduction of SAPs In the late 1970s, Zambia had a foreign debt crisis. In 1979 the Zambian government requested a loan from the IMF. The IMF prescribed an economic structural adjustment programme that forced the Zambian government to reduce fiscal deficit, reduce inflation, liberalise trade and liberalise the economy. The Zambian currency was devalued, and Zambian companies did not improve their performance. The economy thus further deteriorated and there was a rise in class inequalities. President Frederick Chiluba came into power in 1991 with a neoliberal programme emphasizing on the need to increase the role of the private sector in the economy. Furthermore, in keeping with IMF requirements, Chiluba’s programme included further devaluation of the currency, a highly liquid economy, and tighter fiscal and monetary policies. The Bank of Zambia was no longer able to support deficit financing, there was a reduction in state spending, the liberalisation of the maize market and the removal of most labour market controls.

At 36 percent, the public service accounts for the highest proportion of formal sector employment. In 1993, Chiluba introduced a programme called Public Service Reform Programme (PSRP). The objectives of the PSRP were to improve efficiency, cost effectiveness and delivery. The result was a large number of job losses. In 2000, Zambia was classified as a Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC).

Effects of the SAP

• The World Bank still sees Zambia as a “Least Developed Country”.
• Positive GDP figures hide the evidence of increasing poverty and deprivation.
• Living conditions for most Zambians continue to worsen.
• Zambia has a debt crisis, with the external debt standing at US$7.2 billion in 2000.
• Forty-seven percent of the national budget is funded by the donor community
• Interest rates and inflation are high.
• Public service has been cut to almost half over ten years.
• There is a dual process of “de-industrialisation” and “informalisation” of the Zambian economy and work.
• Government is discouraging investment flights, with the result that key companies are pulling out of the Zambian economy. For example Colgate Palmolive, Reckitt Colman, Rothmans, Lever Brothers have ceased their operations in Zambia.
• Privatsation has not improved the employment levels and service delivery. difficult for trade unions to demand higher Wages in a context of massive retrenchments and unemployment. However, beyond the retrenchments and unemployment, SAPs have affected the labour movements negatively by creating divisions within the ranks. For example, the Zambian Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) initially had a “warm” relationship with the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD). Now only the older generation of the ZCTU leadership continues to support the MMD regime, while the new generation of leaders is critical of the MMD. This new generation of leaders called for workers not to vote for the MMD in the elections held in 2003.

Individual workers and structural adjustment programmes SAPs have fundamentally affected the lives of ordinary workers. Researchers interviewed a destitute Zambian labourer, Isaack Mlambo, on the effects that structural adjustment programmes have had on him and his family. He said that prior to the debt crisis he was reasonably well off but successive devaluations and the huge rise in prices of basic commodities meant that he and his family have to struggle to make ends meet. More often than not Mlambo’s family has had to borrow money from moneylenders who charge high rates of interest

The story of Isaack Mlambo can be generalised to other workers in Africa. These workers are now trapped in the cycle of debt just like their countries. Workers borrow money in order to buy school uniforms, food and other basic services. Workers and their families were forced to cut down on the number of meals per day; eliminate meal items such as meat; sell their livestock and cut down on transport costs. These survival tactics show that SAPs have had a dehumanising effect on workers and their families in Zambia. SAPs and declining real wages have also perpetuated corruption in the public sector. Workers use corruption and extra work as a way of supplementing their income. This often causes further problems and stress on them. A specific mention of female workers has to be made. In Zambia, the cuts on public health spending has meant that women now bear an additional burden. They have to care for the sick in addition to their household work. These cuts in public health spending have also meant that workers in the public health service work under not have adequate protection.

The Struggle for Democracy Continues

The Public Service International affiliates in Zambia have developed a programme that is part of the broader struggle for democracy and the fight against neoliberalism. This programme includes:

• The recruitment of workers from the public sector.

• Ensuring that the unions are active in struggles and campaigns against neoliberalism.

 

• Active participation of women (let’s go 50/50) and youth.

 

• Increasing struggles for democracy such as the opposition to Chiluba’s attempt to change the constitution in order to stand for a third presidential term in 2002.

 

• Trade union education on social and political questions.

 

• Cooperation with and support for civil society such as student and church protests, the Forum against the “Third Term”, Jubilee Movement, Environmental Movement, Women for Change and other Social Movements.

 

• Building international solidarity.

 

By Lameck Simwanza