Sort by:
Showing all content in Zambia
-
Publication - Working Paper
Deepening decentralisation in Zambia: Identifying political economy constraints to reform
-
Blog post
Tourism and COVID-19 in Zambia
COVID-19 is a real threat to Zambia’s tourism sector and there is a high risk that many firms will shut down and disappear, undermining any ultimate economic recovery when international travel resumes. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) has warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could cut 50 million jobs worldwide in the travel and tourism industry. The industry,...
-
Blog post
The structural constraints limiting Zambia’s economic response to COVID-19
Health pandemics, like other calamities, are great revealers. Not only do they come at a colossal cost to human life, but often expose and lay bare the structural problems riddling an economy. The COVID-19 pandemic is emblematic of this. It has affected 184 countries around the world with preliminary estimates indicating that it will cost the global economy at least USD 1...
-
Blog post
Increasing tariffs to prevent another electricity crisis in Zambia
Zambia’s state-owned power utility company, ZESCO, is consistently struggling to meet demand, plunging Zambia into one electricity crisis after another. The Government of Zambia’s acceptance of ZESCO’s application to increase tariffs is a step in the right direction. Access to reliable power remains a problem across sub-Saharan Africa. The latest data from the World...
-
Publication - Policy Brief
Civil service reform and performance management in Ghana and Zambia since 1990
Both Zambia and Ghana have tried repeatedly since 1990 to link civil servants’ performance to incentives by introducing performance management systems. Despite these efforts, there have been no cases in either country where individual performance has been successfully and sustainably linked to rewards or sanctions. To understand patterns of individual performance,...
-
Blog post
Do civil service performance incentives work: Evidence from Ghana and Zambia
“The problem with government is that bureaucrats don’t have any incentive to perform well.” If you’ve spent much time working in or with governments in low- or middle-income countries, you’ve almost certainly heard this lament many times – and maybe even said it yourself. The idea is simple, intuitive, and powerful: People aren’t performing well; people...
-
Publication - Working Paper
Civil service reform and performance management in Ghana and Zambia since 1990
-
Blog post
The social cost of electricity price increases in Zambia
The Zambian electricity sector has struggled with frequent power outages since 2016, largely due to declining generation capacity at the main hydropower stations at Kariba. With the worsening drought in recent months, the power deficits have increased, forcing the state power utility ZESCO to announce increased load shedding of up to 15 hours per day in most residential...
-
Publication - Policy Brief
Staving off the hungry season in Zambia: Testing a simple and cost-effective approach
Multiple countries in sub-Saharan African experience seasonal extreme food insecurity, a phenomenon in some cases referred to as the “hungry season.” In Zambia, the context of this project, recent studies suggest that between 60-80% of rural households run out of food before the annual harvest. Seasonal food insecurity has serious impacts on health and wellbeing....
-
Publication - Policy Brief
Barriers to tax compliance for medium, small, and micro enterprises (MSMEs) in Zambia
This study examines the barriers that contribute to the low levels of tax compliance among MSMEs in Zambia. The brief presents findings from an original survey conducted among 1390 respondents in 52 market hubs in Lusaka and Central province of Zambia. The researcher finds a tax compliance rate of on average 30 percent among these MSMEs. The findings reveal...