Zambian economic gloom likely to worsen

Significance

Amid escalating external debt, President Edgar Lungu’s administration recently directed the liquidation of KCM, majority-owned by Vedanta, and is suspected to want to sell these assets to a Chinese state-owned firm. This has compounded international doubts about the ruling Patriotic Front (PF)’s economic strategy.

Impacts

• Despite the controversy over Vedanta, Zambians have little sympathy for the firm due to a pollution scandal and suspicions of tax avoidance.
• Recent mining sector upheaval will prompt wider investor concerns over the status of private property rights.
• Opposition figures face an increasing clampdown by the authorities due to pushback against a contentious constitutional amendment process.
• Recurring corruption revelations against state institutions and officials will prompt increasing civil society protests.