President Elect Hakainde Hichilema’s Presidency is starting on a very high note with financial markets responding very positively. Already, Zambian bonds have shown that there is a lot of international goodwill and foreign investor confidence that he is bringing to the table.
The local currency, the Kwacha has followed suite with record appreciation within the few days after the announcement of Hichilema’s win by the electoral Commission of Zambia – ECZ. His campaign promise was that he would deliver an exchange rate of K10 per US dollar, a goal which even his critics are now thinking he is headed to meet.
However, the best news is for the growing middle class in Zambia who love to buy and are infatuated with foreign products mostly from South African owned and stocked supermarkets.
The Kwacha is now almost one to one (K1 = ZAR1) to the South African Rand, meaning that most of the imported consumer goods prices are expected to drop within the next few weeks as new stocks are ordered and start arriving in Zambia.
But caution in this case is needed as the economy is multifaceted, this initial rosy picture needs to be well managed to attain medium to long term sustainability. There is need to balance the interest of the middle class with the majority low end citizens.
There is need to balance the interest of urban dweller in relation to rural and farm workers. It would be interesting to note the trends in the next few months to see how this scenario of a stronger Kwacha will affect the existing and locally based manufacturers and their export earnings.
One this though that is important is that President Elect Hichilema’s first speech aroused optimism even from his critics and supporters of his rival party – the Patriotic Front – PF.
Even as the country emerges from the August 12 elections, Hichilema needs to be given a benefit of doubt. He needs to be given time to devise a way in which he would balance the various and complex interests of the west, the east, the foreign owned mining houses.
However, we can state unequivocally that serving the interest of Zambian citizens remains the ultimate and supreme interest for any responsible head of State and Government. All other competing interests become a balancing act. This is true not only for Zambia, but for any functioning and sustainably run country in the world today.
