Mismanaged mineral dependence: Zambia 1970–90

Zambia, like other copper producers, took the high late 1960s copper price as the norm and regarded the mid-1970s mineral price fall as an aberration. It adjusted by foreign borrowing rather than by structural change. Consequently, when the early 1980s price shock drove copper revenues even lower, Zambia had little room for manoeuvre. The cumulative scale of the required adjustment then impeded IMF-backed reforms and further delayed the diversification into farming, agroindustry and labour intensive manufactures which the country's shrinking copper ‘bonus’ dictates.