Zambia Outperforms SADC in 2025 Growth

As UFEZ Backs Reforms to Turn Momentum into Jobs and Investment

By Francis Maingaila ♥️

Lusaka, Zambia24  --- 31 December 2025)

Zambia’s economy outperformed the Southern African Development Community (SADC) average in 2025, recording an estimated growth rate of about 5.8 per cent.

This places the country among the fastest-growing peer economies in the region and creates an opportunity to convert reform momentum into jobs, investment and enterprise expansion, the United Federation of Employers in Zambia (UFEZ) has said.

UFEZ President Dr Humphrey Monde told journalists at a media briefing that Zambia’s performance stood in sharp contrast to the wider SADC region. 

He said regional real GDP growth was projected at around 2.2 per cent in 2025, according to the African Development Bank’s Southern Africa Economic Outlook.

Dr Monde attributed the slower regional growth to structural constraints, weak investment and subdued performance in several large economies.

He said Zambia’s current growth trajectory marked a resurgence not seen in nearly two decades. Dr Monde noted that average growth between 2004 and 2024 had been significantly lower, making the recent rebound a strong signal that economic reforms were beginning to deliver tangible results.

Dr Monde welcomed Government’s 2026 National Budget projection of growth of up to 6.4 per cent. 

He said the outlook reflected growing confidence in reforms across mining, agriculture, infrastructure development and fiscal management.

According to Dr Monde, these developments were positioning Zambia as a more competitive and credible destination for both domestic and foreign investment.

Looking ahead, Dr Monde said UFEZ believed Zambia could exceed the 6.4 per cent growth projection in 2026 if reform momentum was sustained and implementation accelerated.

He said potential upside would be driven by expanding mining investment and production, particularly in copper and other strategic minerals. He also cited agricultural recovery, which is boosting rural incomes and agro-processing.

Dr Monde further pointed to growth in the services and information and communication technology sectors, alongside improved macroeconomic stability that is strengthening investor confidence.

He emphasised the importance of operationalising the 24-Hour Economy. Dr Monde said the initiative was essential for expanding employment opportunities, improving productivity in the services sector and leveraging Zambia’s strategic position as a regional transport and logistics hub.

Turning to transport and competitiveness, Dr Monde expressed concern over the economic cost of road traffic accidents. 

He said crashes were estimated to cost Zambia about ZMW 16.7 billion annually, equivalent to roughly US$700 million or 4.7 per cent of GDP.

The figures are based on the UNDP Zambia Road Safety Investment Case study, which assessed the direct and indirect burden of road traffic injuries and fatalities on the economy and health system.

Dr Monde described road traffic crashes as a continuous and preventable public safety emergency. He said the accidents were silently reversing productivity gains and devastating families.

He noted that in 2024 alone, Zambia recorded 1,804 fatal road crashes resulting in 2,199 deaths. Dr Monde said this figure already exceeded half of the country’s total recorded COVID-19 deaths during the entire pandemic period.

On this basis, he urged Government to elevate road safety to a whole-of-government crisis. He called for road accidents to be declared a national disaster and addressed with the same urgency applied to other national emergencies.

Dr Monde said UFEZ was advocating for high-impact interventions, particularly along key freight corridors.

Among the measures proposed, he called for the issuance of a Statutory Instrument to establish and operationalise truck parks along major trade routes. 

He said this should be done through coordination between the Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry of Transport and Logistics.

Dr Monde said mandatory rest regimes for truck drivers would improve safety, attract private sector investment and create jobs.

He also called for accelerated corridor monitoring through weighbridges, speed management and digital enforcement.

According to Dr Monde, these measures would reduce crashes while improving traceability and tax compliance in road freight.

In addition, he urged Government to fully fund safer-road engineering and blackspot treatment. 

He also called for tighter enforcement against high-risk behaviour and unroadworthy vehicle fleets.

On governance and productivity, Dr Monde said UFEZ strongly supported Government’s digitisation agenda led by the Smart Zambia Institute.

He said digitisation had already improved access to public services, reduced processing times and enhanced transparency. 

However, Dr Monde expressed concern that many systems still relied on parallel manual processes.

According to him, partial digitisation undermines efficiency, raises compliance costs and creates room for discretionary decision-making. He said digitisation can only deliver its full value when implemented end-to-end.

Dr Monde also highlighted land as one of the most important sources of capital available to Zambians, particularly small and medium enterprises.

He said incomplete digitisation of land administration and conveyancing continued to create delays, uncertainty and high transaction costs.

Dr Monde called for full end-to-end digitisation of land searches, transfers, consent, registration, assignments and title issuance. 

He also urged seamless integration between land registries, local authorities, financial institutions and digital payment platforms.

He said these reforms were critical to unlocking land-backed investment, improving access to credit and accelerating citizen-owned enterprise growth.

In addition, Dr Monde urged Government to fully digitise all local authority payments. These include business levies, trading permits, property rates, planning fees and licensing charges.

He said fully digital council payment systems would reduce the cost and time of doing business, improve revenue collection and accountability, eliminate informal charges and support the formalisation of enterprises, particularly in rural areas.

As Zambia approaches 2026, Dr Monde said UFEZ remained committed to working with Government, social partners and employers to strengthen productivity and competitiveness.

He said the federation would continue supporting private sector growth, job creation and labour law reforms aimed at promoting employment.

Dr Monde said Zambia had a realistic pathway to regain double-digit GDP growth within the next five to seven years for the first time since 1965.

He said sustained mining expansion, downstream value addition, improved macroeconomic stability, stronger public financial management and faster digitisation of government services could lift growth beyond the current 5–6 per cent range.

According to Dr Monde, achieving this milestone would require consistent policy implementation and the collective support of business, labour, financiers and citizens to translate reform momentum into productivity, jobs and shared prosperity.