Zambia’s extensive resource endowments offer potentially significant commercial opportunities in Zambia’s emerging economy, most notably in mining, agriculture, energy, infrastructure, information and communication technology, and tourism, though the costs of doing business may limit the profitability of realizing these opportunities:

• Mining:  Zambia is the seventh largest copper producer in the world, producing 820,676 tons in 2024 (five percent of global copper production), with a projection to reach one million tons in 2025. While Zambia possesses globally significant critical mineral deposits, developing these reserves has been challenging due to government interference in the sector, pervasive corruption, lack of a transparent and competitive process for awarding mining concessions, and a corrupt and dysfunctional cadastre system. While the mining sector investment climate has slightly improved under President Hichilema’s administration, significant transparency and reforms are still needed. President Hichilema has stated that Zambia aims to produce three million tons of copper per year by 2032. However, industry insiders are skeptical Zambia can achieve this overly ambitious target without additional substantive changes to policy and practice. Despite these challenges, there was new investment in Zambia’s mining sector in 2023 and 2024, and opportunities remain in exploration, mining, processing, equipment and supplies, and ancillary services. Zambia also possesses significant deposits of other valuable minerals, including cobalt, gold, nickel, manganese, graphite, lithium, beryllium, sulfur, zinc, coal, iron ore, steel, limestone, uranium and other platinum-group metals. Zambia also has significant gemstone deposits, including  emeralds, amethysts, aquamarines, garnets, tourmalines, rose quartz, agate, amazonite, colored quartz, and others. 
   
• Lobito Development Corridor:  The governments of Zambia, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), along with multiple international partners and development institutions have committed to developing transportation infrastructure to link the mineral-rich regions of the DRC and Zambia to Angola’s port of Lobito, on the Atlantic Ocean. The Lobito Development Corridor could include construction of rail, road, energy, and other infrastructure that would provide a critical trade corridor for Zambian and DRC imports and exports, which would create opportunities for construction and related service contracts. Multiple ancillary development efforts seek to develop the mining, ag, energy, ICT, health, and other sectors along this economic corridor.
   
• Agriculture:  Zambia has 42 million hectares of arable land, with only 15 percent currently under production. Agricultural yields in Zambia are generally low due to a lack of mechanization, limited access to quality inputs, poor agronomic practices, and government interference in the sector, which has undermined private sector investment and the development of a commercially sustainable network of agro-inputs dealers. However, given Zambia’s fertile soil and consistent rains (November – March), it has the potential to significantly increase its production of staple and cash crops. There are also significant investment opportunities in value addition processing, cold chain storage, and food processing, targeting large regional markets including the DRC and South Africa. 
   
• Energy:  In 2024, Zambia generated 13.3 million megawatt hours (MWh) of electricity, marking a 31.3 percent decrease from 19.4 million MWh in 2023. This decline was due to a severe drought that significantly reduced hydropower output, which accounts for 85 percent of the country’s electricity. State-owned Zambia Electricity Supply Corporation Ltd (ZESCO) contributed 56 percent of 13.3 million megawatt hours, with the balance generated by independent power producers (IPPs). In light of the energy intensive nature of mining operations, Zambia needs to significantly increase its power generation to support the government’s plan to drastically increase copper production. To address the energy deficit, the government has taken measures such as negotiating additional electricity imports and encouraging private investment in alternative energy sources like solar and wind power. In February 2025, Zambia launched the Electricity Open Access Regime, enabling qualified private players to access and use electricity transmission and distribution networks. This initiative has fostered competition and attracted new investment in the sector. Zambia has also leveraged its membership in the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), which facilitates electricity trading among member countries through their utility companies. In 2024, Zambia imported 2.5 million MWh from neighboring countries, including South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, and Zimbabwe, to reduce the gap between supply and demand. Furthermore, Zambia is advancing regional energy integration through projects like the Zambia-Tanzania Interconnector Project, supported by a $292 million World Bank commitment. This initiative aims to increase power transmission capacity between Zambia and Tanzania. IPPs seeking to sell power through the grid must sell it to ZESCO. Due to financial mismanagement and corruption under the previous administration, ZESCO had been under significant financial distress, operated at a loss, and accumulated significant arrears. However, as of September 30, 2024, ZESCO had reduced its accounts payable to IPPs to $379 million, down from $1.8 billion in December 2021. Once this debt is paid off, ZESCO will be able to invest in upgrading and expanding the grid. 
   
• Infrastructure:  Zambia is unable to use debt financing for any new significant infrastructure projects because of the Zambian government’s debt status. However, infrastructure development remains one of the government’s top priorities, and in 2024, construction remained the country’s largest industrial sector, comprising 9.6 percent of GDP. The government is seeking investors for public-private partnerships to finance new infrastructure projects and regularly accepts unsolicited proposals.
   
• Information and Communications Technology (ICT):  According to the 2024 Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority’s (ZICTA) Annual Market Report, active mobile cellular subscriptions rose by 9.5 percent from 21.1 million in 2023 to 23.2 million in 2024, equivalent to more than 80 percent of the population. (Note: As many Zambians use more than one active connection, the actual percentage of Zambians with an active connection is likely to be significantly lower. End Note.) In 2024, internet penetration in Zambia was  67.3 percent, with  13.5 million internet users. The Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), a non-profit industry organization that promotes global connectivity, noted ZICTA’s progress in improving nationwide connectivity, infrastructure, transparency, and its spectrum roadmap. ZICTA reported that total number of  active mobile money subscriptions in Zambia declined to 12.3 million in 2024 from 12.9 million in 2023, with transaction values exceeding $18.6 billion. 
   
• Tourism:  Zambia’s tourism sector is based on its environmental diversity, which includes the world-famous Victoria Falls, vast wildlife resources (20 national parks), varied scenery, wilderness, cultural tourism, adventure activities, and hunting. About 30 percent of Zambia’s 752,614 square kilometers is reserved for wildlife conservation. In 2024, travel and tourism comprised 9.9 percent of Zambia’s GDP and provided almost 500,000 jobs. International tourist arrivals reached 2.2 million in 2024, a 35.3 increase from 2023. While there is significant potential to increase tourism in Zambia, sectoral growth is hampered by Zambia’s inadequate infrastructure, relatively high cost of international travel into Zambia, comparatively expensive domestic air travel, and onerous licensing requirements for lodges and hotels. Zambia has tried to position itself as a high-end niche safari destination, with comparatively expensive lodging and tour packages.