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After a 15-month bad patch, business is finally on the up for Zambian car dealer Dingani Banda.
The 29-year-old, who imports used cars from Japan to sell in the capital, Lusaka, has seen his monthly sales jump by 50% over the past year, largely due to a strengthening of the country’s kwacha currency.
Banda said that had been a godsend for him and other businesses in the southern African nation that rely on imported supplies, and had boosted sales.
“The fluctuating kwacha in the last few years was a nightmare, and so to be able to enjoy its stability and appreciation in recent months has been relieving,” Banda told Context.
“We have had an increase in clients being able to afford purchasing vehicles now because of the appreciated value of the currency.”
President Hakainde Hichilema, dubbed “calculator boy” for his background in finance, has been credited with ushering in such economic improvements since taking office in August 2021.
Hichilema has swiftly moved to renegotiate the country’s defaulted debt, put a lid on brisk inflation – bucking the global trend – and signed a $1.3-billion three-year loan with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
But while financial markets have celebrated such steps, many poor Zambians say they have yet to see the benefits, and some fear the IMF deal will mean austerity measures in a nation where about half of the population lives on less than $2 a day.
Tax justice and anti-poverty campaigners said the agreement had already led to the abrupt removal of fuel and electricity subsidies, leaving the poorest Zambians vulnerable to higher prices linked to the war in Ukraine.
“This program is based on the traditional IMF austerity package – but delivered on steroids,” said Nalucha Nganga Ziba, a social justice advocate and former head of the charity Action Aid Zambia.
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