PEST ANALYSIS OF ZAMBIA

Political environment
Politics in Zambia take place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby
the President of Zambia is both the head of state and head of government in a pluriform multi-party
system. The government exercises executive power, while legislative power is vested in both the
government and parliament. Zambia became a republic immediately upon attaining independence in
October 1964. Since 2011, Zambia's president has been Michael Sata.

Economical Environment
The Zambian economy has experienced high and sustained economic of the last decade that was not
realised in the first 30 years of its independence. The economic growth rate averaged 5% per annum
during the last decade. Unlike in the past when growth was driven by dependence on mineral resources,
particularly copper this time around the main drivers include construction and agriculture. Government
policies have given direction and provided support for economic performance. One of the policy decisions
that has been credited with economic performance relates to privatization and liberalization of most of the
Zambian economy. Privatization of the mines in the late 1990s removed a major leakage of government
resources. The liberalization of the economy in the 1990s also facilitated foreign direct investment (FDI)
into the mining sector. Other sectors and sub-sectors like agro-processing, construction and services also
benefited from foreign injections into the economy.

Social Environment
Zambia is a land-locked country in Southern African covering a total area of about 753 000 km2. Zambia
shares borders with eight other countries. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the north,
Tanzania to the northeast, Malawi to the east, Mozambique to the south east, Zimbabwe to the south,
Botswana and Namibia to the south west and Angola to the west. The population is estimated to be about
13 million. The country is endowed with natural resources, such as copper and water resources. Zambia
gained its independence in 1964 from the British in the 1960s. Since then until the late eighties Zambia’s
economy was controlled by the government and was largely dependent on copper mining. Zambia is
officially a Christian nation according to the 1996 constitution, but a wide variety of religious traditions
exist. Traditional religious thoughts blend easily with Christian beliefs in many of the country's syncretic
churches. However, like many sub Saharan African countries it is a the low-middle income and faces the
socio-economic challenges ranging from poverty, poor health conditions, lack of basic amenities, high
unemployment rates and others.
Technological Environment
In Zambia, the education system consists of both government and private schools. Historically, the private
school system began largely as a result of Christian mission efforts during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries. In schools, a student may initially receive two levels of education; basic education that is 1 to 9,
and upper secondary, that is 10 to 12. Some schools provide a basic education covering years 1 to 9, as
year 9 is considered to be a decent level of education for the majority of children. However, tuition is only
free up to year 7, and UNESCO estimated that 80% of children of primary school age in 2002 were
enrolled. In 2003, the adult literacy rate was estimated to be 80.6%. Zambia has a firs OLPC - One
Laptop Per Child - deployment at the new Zambian library that is in traditional Zambian Style. In 2009,
Zambia generated 10.3 Twh and has been rated high in use of both Solar power and Hydroelectricity.