Zambia
IGC Zambia delivers data-driven research, actionable insights, and economic policy advice, focusing on key drivers of growth such as mining, energy, public-sector effectiveness, agriculture, and firm productivity. Our work integrates cross-cutting priorities, including climate adaptation and poverty reduction.
We also support the Zambia Evidence Lab – a project spearheaded by the Zambian Ministry of Finance and National Planning (MoFNP), designed to enhance the use of data in policy decisions.
Explore our work
Positioning Zambia for a copper-plus future
Zambia's pathways to growth
Public lecture: Is a development bargain in Zambia possible?
Unlocking economic prosperity in the Zambian Copperbelt
Zambia Economic Growth Forum 2024
Unlocking the potential of Zambia's administrative data
What constrains agricultural productivity in Zambia?
A strategy for resource-led development in Zambia
Zambia’s Constituency Development Fund: Policy considerations
The effect of Zambia's Food Reserve Agency on agricultural market outcomes
About
As one of the youngest and most urbanised countries in Africa with large copper reserves, Zambia has experienced high levels of economic growth during surges in global commodity prices but has struggled to reduce poverty and inequality. The economy is dominated by mining and agriculture, but rapid urbanisation and the increasing services sector are driving structural transformation. Several structural problems constrain widespread prosperity including high public debt, dependence on a single commodity, periodic electricity crises, and low agricultural productivity.
IGC Zambia, based in Lusaka, supports Zambia's quest for sustainable and inclusive economic growth by working with the government on a range of policy priorities where data and economic research can support policy decisions. For example, we have supported improving the recruitment of community health workers, measured the effects of power outages on firms, mapped informal settlements in Lusaka, evaluated if electronic fiscal devices are effective in raising tax revenue, mapped over 40,000 businesses in Lusaka, and helped roll out of the Constituency Development Fund. Present work focuses on key drivers of growth in Zambia: energy, mining, public-service delivery, and agriculture.
The cornerstone of IGC's work in Zambia is high-trust relationships with policymakers to co-produce relevant and rigorous research. IGC Zambia works with several government departments including the State House, Bank of Zambia, the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, the Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Local Government. IGC also supports economic development dialogue in Zambia, such as through the annual Zambia Economic Growth Forum.
IGC Zambia Team
Lwandamo Muwema
Country Office Manager, Zambia, International Growth CentreThandiwe Ng'ombe
Country Economist, Zambia, International Growth CentreBenjamin Shawa
Country Economist, Zambia, International Growth CentreShahrukh Wani
Country Manager, Zambia, International Growth CentreChomba Kalunga
Head of Zambia Evidence Lab (ZEL), Zambia, International Growth CentreStephen Jackson
ZEL Lab Economist, Zambia, International Growth CentreTyler Rossow
ZEL Data Analyst, Zambia, International Growth CentreFeatured researchers
Nava Ashraf
Professor of Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)Katherine E Casey
Professor of Political Economy, Stanford UniversityKelsey Jack
Associate Professor, University of California - Santa BarbaraBrian Dillon
Assistant Professor, Cornell UniversityGilbert Siame
Director of the Centre for Urban Research and Planning, University of ZambiaTorsten Figueiredo Walter
Assistant Professor of Economics, New York University Abu DhabiNiclas Moneke
Associate Professor, University of OxfordTwivwe Siwale
Head of Tax for Growth Initiative, International Growth CentreSimon Roberts
Visiting Professor of Economics, University of JohannesburgOriana Bandiera
Professor of Economics, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)Martin Williams
Associate Professor in Public Management, University of OxfordAnja Benshaul-Tolonen
Assistant Professor of Economics, Barnard College, Columbia UniversityContact
Phone No.: +260774745243
Email: [email protected]
X: @IGC_Zambia
Address: AfricaWorks, 4 Bishops Road, Kabulonga, Lusaka, Zambia