Lusaka - There’s a statue of a man downtown. His manacled hands are outstretched as he rips the links of a chain asunder.
Titled Freedom, it’s a symbol both of Zambia’s journey out of colonialism and its role helping South African, Namibian and Zimbabwean liberation movements escape at the height of the Cold War in Africa.cheap jerseys free shipping
The principled stand exacted a heavy cost.
Raids by the Rhodesian army and air force into Zambian territory were fleeting compared to the damage wrought on the economy through sanctions – and then president Kenneth Kaunda’s decision to close the borders – and an aggressive policy of “Zambianisation” or African socialism. Zambians too were often their worst enemy. Cynics claimed the statue proved that Zambians would destroy anything – irrespective how little they had.
The next 40 years would be just as unkind – especially when the copper market crashed. Zambia was a basket case, a quintessential failed state, said the sages.
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The Freedom statue in Lusaka, Zambia.
REUTERS
Today, if you type Lusaka into Google or any other search engine and select images, you will be faced with pictures of extreme poverty and incredible filth. And yet it’s being heralded as one of the fastest developing cities in the region.
Kenneth Kaunda International Airport reinforces both views instantaneously.
Similar in size and layout to East London airport, the reality owes more to scenes from The Last King of Scotland, from the bored customs officials on arrival, to the chaotic check-in procedures on departure. And yet, the little Airtel cellular shop can get a BlackBerry up and running with a fully functional BlackBerry Internet Service in minutes – aeons faster than their South African counterparts.
The road into Lusaka from the airport is first-rate too, unlike the road from Livingstone airport, the country’s tourism hub, where tar is a euphemism.
The kwacha has changed too. At one stage, the currency was going the way of Zimbabwe’s dollar. Nobody changed money, the exchange rate just induced a splitting headache and in any case rands, pula and dollars were all accepted, and indeed preferred by retailers. Introduced in 1968, amid the heady days of independence to replace the British sterling, at K2 to the pound and K1.2 to $1, by early last year, the kwacha had plummeted to K5 120 to $1.cheap jerseys shop
On January 1, the Zambian government revalued the currency, lopping off three zeroes. Now it will cost you almost R2 to buy a kwacha. It’s great for currency conversions, but misleading too – fuel costs K9.19, which seems incredibly cheap until you realise it’s more than a third more than we’re paying in South Africa. Likewise a 2 litre bottle of Coke at the Spar down the road will set you back almost R24.
The thing though is you can actually get all of this in the first place – at any price.
Down Lusaka’s Great East Road, which runs into the CBD itself, lies the Arcades, a mix of shops and entertainment that wouldn’t be out of place in Joburg’s northern suburbs. There’s a Ster-Kinekor, an Ocean Basket, a Mike’s Kitchen, a Wimpy, all holding up the different points of the complex, with a Protea Hotel at the back.
Less than 2km further down is Manda Hill Mall, a shopping centre that could quite easily have been lifted out of The Glen in the south of Joburg, anchored by Mr Price Home, Woolworths and Shoprite.
It wasn’t always like this. By the mid-70s, people were more accustomed to the gaping maw of empty shelves in shops. Kaunda was admired as a peacekeeper and for winning his country back for his people. He clung to power for 27 years before overseeing a decade of hopelessness, hunger and joblessness. Ousted in 1991, Kaunda’s departure heralded a new era of democracy with elections every five years and the government being voted out twice.
President Michael Sata was elected in September 2011 on a ticket of getting the country to work, rooting out corruption, cutting red tape and making it easier for foreign companies to invest. It seems to be paying off. The Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry, Robert Sichinga, writes in the foreword of this year’s Zambian Yellow Pages that the country’s riding a 13-year wave of positive economic growth. Inflation is down from 30 percent in 2000 to single digits, with the economy forecast to grow at 8.3 percent for this year. The government is forging ahead with a range of reforms, from abolishing the death penalty to devolving political power to local councils.
For Zambia’s high commissioner to South Africa, Muyeba Chikonde, the change can be attributed in part to the renewed international investment in the copper industry, but mostly to the country’s political leadership.
“Chiluba introduced privatisation, Mwanawasa declared war on corruption, President Banda wasn’t as successful as either, but President Sata has overseen unprecedented development with ambitious plans to transform Zambia from a landlocked to land-linked country.wholesale cheap jerseys