IT IS NOT ONLY ZAMBIA, THE WHOLE WORLD IS IN ECONOMIC DISARRAY

SOMETIMES I wonder why even those that have been to school and claim to be enlightened fail to tell the simple truth to the the people that it is NOT only Zambia but the WHOLE world is in ECONOMIC TURMOIL. Even the media which must act as a source of information and education is failing to tell the simple truth that it is not only Zambia but the entire globe is facing tough economic challenges as a result of Covid-19.

Yes, some will argue that we had some economic shocks before Covid-19 but the truth is that this pandemic has worsened the economic challenges and derailed our path to recovery.

Of course we had challenges, mainly stemming from adverse effects of Climate Change which resulted into a fatal combo of droughts and floods leading to long hours of electricity load-shedding on one hand and a decline in agro-production on the other. This coupled with the fall of commodity prices on the international market, debt servicing, fuel hikes among others have negatively affected our production, lowered our forex, increased inflation and fluctuated our currency against major convertible denominations.

You can’t discuss Zambia’s economy in isolation to the global economy because we live in a global world and a global market where the happenings in London, Washington, Beijing, Johannesburg etceteras have a direct impact on Zambia’s economy. Moreover, we rely on these international markets for trade, investment and foreign exchange.

The Covid-19 pandemic has triggered the deepest economic recession in nearly a century, threatening health, disrupting economic activity, hurting our well-being and jobs.

According to figures by the IMF, the only major economy to grow in 2020 was

China. It registered a growth rate of 2.3%, the rest were in NEGATIVES.

The travel industry has been badly damaged, with airlines cutting flights and customers cancelling business trips and holidays.

Data from the flight tracking service Flight Radar 24 shows that the number of flights globally took a huge hit in 2020 and it is still a long way from recovery.

The whole world is subject to substantial growth downgrades. These downturns are expected to reverse years of progress toward developmental goals and tip tens of millions of people back into extreme poverty.

Driven by the economic fallout of the Covid-19global pandemic, growth in Sub-Saharan Africa fell to -3.3 percent in 2020, pushing the region into its first recession in 25 years, according to the latest regional economic analysis Africa’s Pulse: Charting the Road to Recovery. The pandemic has also driven approximately 40 million people into extreme poverty in Africa in 2020, erasing at least five years of progress in fighting poverty.

Emerging markets and developing economies like Zambia have been buffeted by economic headwinds from multiple quarters: pressure on weak health care systems, loss of trade and tourism, dwindling remittances, subdued capital flows, and tight financial conditions amid mounting debt according to the World Bank.

So when one wants to talk about Zambia’s economic challenges, they must start with the impact of climate, droughts, floods, army worms, load-shedding, debt servicing as well as the impact of Covid-19 on Zambia, the SubSahara Africa and the Global Economy. Any economic discussion devoid of these fundamentals is simply hogwash and must be dismissed as political chicanery and mere propaganda devoid of facts.