The World Bank in Zambia

Zambia is a large, landlocked, resource-rich country with sparsely populated land in the center of Southern Africa. It shares its border with eight countries (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe) that expand its regional market for goods and services.

Zambia is experiencing a large demographic shift and is one of the world’s youngest countries by median age. Its population, much of it urban, is estimated at about 19. 7 million (2022 population census) with a rapid growth rate of 2.7% per year, reflecting the relatively high fertility rate. As the large youth population attains reproductive age, the population is anticipated to double in the next 25 years, resulting in additional pressure on the demand for jobs, health care, and other social services.

ECONOMY
Zambia’s economy is recovering from drought, with growth driven by mining, agriculture, and tourism, expected to increase by 5.8% in 2025. Public debt is forecasted to decrease from 133% of GDP in 2023 to 90.7% in 2025, as agreements to restructure about 94% of Zambia’s external debt are put in place. However, climate risks, shortages of hydroelectric power, and ongoing reliance on mining pose significant threats to an otherwise positive outlook. GDP growth is projected to average 6.5% for 2026–27, supported by activity in agriculture, industry (including mining and agrifood processing), as well as services linked to mining, agriculture, and tourism. Poverty is expected to decline by roughly 1 percentage point annually through 2027, but this progress could accelerate over the medium term as subsistence agriculture transforms, and urban labor markets improve.

Last Updated: Oct 15, 2025

Zambia ranks among the countries with highest levels of poverty and inequality globally. More than 58% (2015) of Zambia’s 19.5 million people earn less than the international poverty line of $1.90 per day (compared to 41% across Sub-Saharan Africa) and three quarters of the poor live in rural areas. World Bank support to Zambia commenced in 1955, well before it attained its independence in 1964.

Regional Trade Facilitation
Zambia has committed to implementing policy reforms to enhance regional trade. The country is part of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bodies that promote regional trade. Overall, Zambia has performed well in all dimensions of the regional integration index, ranking second in COMESA and fourth in the SADC region. 

Last Updated: Oct 06, 2025

The World Bank Zambia Country Partnership Framework (CPF) FY25-29 supports the government’s development goals and is aligned with the National Development Plan and Vision 2030. The CPF reinforces the importance of the private sector, good governance, and resilience, and focuses on: Improving business environment and improving connectivity and increasing energy access to create more and better jobs; Improving education, skills and health outcomes for the future labor force, and improving targeting and effectiveness of social protection; improving natural resources management and climate-smart agriculture and enhancing climate risk management systems and financing.

The World Bank portfolio in Zambia is comprised of 22 national projects, one trust fund and five regional projects with a total commitment of $3.2 billion (September 2025). It covers agriculture, education, energy, environment, finance & private sector, governance, health, macroeconomics, social protection, transport, and water.

IFC’s investment and advisory portfolio is currently $116.4 million and covers agribusiness, energy, manufacturing, retail and tourism property, the financial sector, and the telecom sectors. It promotes sustainable private sector development by improving the investment climate, supporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and engaging in the development of key sectors such as infrastructure, agribusiness, and financial services.

IFC is backing commercial agribusiness operations which support smallholder farmers, assisting digital and renewable energy, providing financing facilities for support to SMEs, and advisory support to improve the credit infrastructure and increase access to finance.

MIGA support as of February 2025 stands at $170.7 million and spans projects across the manufacturing, energy, financial and fintech sectors, such as a 120MW hydropower project, an equity investment and capital optimization for a financial institution, and a fintech mobile money project.

PARTNERS

The African Development Bank, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), European Union, International Monetary Fund, United Nations agencies, governments of German, Ireland, United Kingdom, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and the United States are among the partners of the World Bank.

The World Bank Group’s strategy adheres to the principles agreed with other partners supporting Zambia's development efforts, as part of the Cooperating Partner Group (CPG).

The World Bank is currently working on the Zambia Umbrella Trust Fund, formally known as the Zambia Cooperating Partners Umbrella Program (ZamCUP), a newly established multi-donor trust fund (MDTF) designed to support Zambia’s development priorities under the World Bank’s Country Partnership Framework (CPF) for FY2025–29. It aims to consolidate efforts of cooperating partners (CPs) into a single, coordinated platform.

Last Updated: Oct 06, 2025

The Agribusiness and Trade Project is focused on jobs and economic transformation and has so far supported 98,000 people directly, plus 600,000 members through aggregator models. 180 productive alliance subprojects received grant financing and are receiving coaching, training, and mentorship. As a result, nearly 57% of Producer Organizations met their commercialization agreements with commercial buyers and demonstrated a 48% increase in average gross sales.

The Girls’ Education and Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods (GEWEL) Project has provided $342.54 million of support from 2016-2024. 139,400 women benefited from a package of life and business skills training, along with productive grants of $225. Results from the randomized control trial impact evaluation of Supporting Women Livelihood show that the productive grant has significant positive impact on household food security, profits, savings, income, and diversification. The Keeping Girls in School component enrolled 148,616 girls in secondary schools across 65 districts, exceeding the target of 80,000. It also made strides in addressing school-related gender-based violence (GBV).

The Transforming Landscapes for Resilience and Development Project finances investments to help vulnerable communities overcome climate change impacts, ensuring food security and climate-resilient income activities and infrastructure. 31,514 households received alternative livelihood investments, exceeding the target of 27,836, with 55% being female-headed. Sustainable landscape management practices now cover 99,515 hectares (target: 75,000 hectares).

The Education Enhancement Project is helping improve quality of teaching and learning conditions in primary and secondary schools and increasing access to secondary education. 82 secondary schools were constructed so far and 43,840 students (21,920 female) enrolled (grades 8-12). 3,250 science and mathematics teachers have been trained, enhancing subject knowledge and pedagogical skills.

Last Updated: Oct 06, 2025