"Land linked not Land locked" Zambia’s Transport & logistics potential

 Zambia’s freight and logistics industry is battling what many describe as a perfect storm. A slump in global commodity prices, a 60% fall in the kwacha, persistent drought and rolling blackouts lasting up to eight hours a day have combined to produce the country’s worst economic crisis in over a decade, according to the African Development Bank.

Mining, the backbone of the economy, has been hit particularly hard. With copper prices depressed and investment curtailed, cargo volumes have shrunk. The country’s reliance on copper leaves it especially vulnerable. Nor does the shift in China’s growth model offer much solace: as the World Bank notes, Zambia is unlikely to benefit from Beijing’s pivot to consumption-led growth. Diversification into agriculture, however, could offer opportunities as demand for food imports into China rises.

These headwinds have weighed on competitiveness. Zambia’s ranking in the World Bank’s Doing Business index slipped from 91st in 2015 to 97th in 2017. More tellingly for logistics, its “trading across borders” score tumbled by 42 places, to 152nd worldwide.

Yet geography offers consolation. Though its population is modest, at around 12m, Zambia borders eight countries whose combined markets exceed 170m people. Landlocked, but increasingly styled “land-linked”, the country sits astride key transit routes. Road and rail corridors connect it to the Indian and Atlantic Oceans; membership of COMESA and SADC grants preferential trade access and access to donor-backed infrastructure schemes.

Projects such as the North-South Corridor, linking Dar es Salaam to South Africa’s ports via Zambia’s Copperbelt, promise to ease customs and cut transit times. The Mpulungu port on Lake Tanganyika offers access to the Great Lakes. Roads to Angola and Mozambique are being improved to deepen regional integration.

The government is busy recasting transport policy to position Zambia as a regional logistics hub. The Link Zambia 8000 project has already upgraded 3,700km of roads, while urban projects in Lusaka and the Copperbelt aim to relieve congestion. Railways, long neglected, are being revived. New lines are planned to connect with Angola, Tanzania and Mozambique, offering miners alternative routes to ports. A $2.3bn contract with a Chinese builder will extend links eastwards, while another $1.2bn project will provide new access to Angola.

Air transport is also on the agenda. The government hopes to revive Zambia Airways and is completing new airports in Lusaka and the Copperbelt. Tourism, once constrained by costly and awkward connections, could benefit.

Political stability is another asset. Investors seeking to serve regional markets may find Zambia’s centrality appealing. By 2030, officials hope to turn geographic accident into strategic advantage, shifting perceptions of a landlocked country hemmed in by borders to that of a land-linked hub at the crossroads of southern and central Africa.

The vision is ambitious. But if the promised railways, roads and airports materialise—and if reforms take hold—Zambia could yet turn today’s perfect storm into tomorrow’s transport boom.

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