Applying the Growth Identification and Facilitation Framework: The Case of Zambia

Abstract

Zambia’s copper mining industry has been the country's mainstay since its independence in 1964. Mining has played a key role in the economic and social development of Zambia and it remains a pillar to its economy. The objective of this paper was to identify the sectors in which Zambia has a comparative advantage in. In doing so, the Growth Identification and Facilitation Framework (GIFF) was applied. The GIFF is a practical policy tool operationalizing key insights of New Structural Economics, to help policymakers in least developing countries (LDCs) to catching-up by developing feasible and sharply focused policies. In doing so, LDCs are able to identify and unlock their latent comparative advantages to achieve structural transformation. Through the comparison with Vietnam, Indonesia, Morocco and Ghana, Zambia’s comparative advantage sectors include agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism. These sectors ought to be exploited in a bid to realize the development potential of the country, and thus transform the comparative advantages into international competitive advantages. Based on the analysis of the constraints on the development of Zambia's agriculture, mining, manufacturing and tourism sectors, the paper proposes some measures for the government to undertake so as to deal with these constraints, in order to promote the development of Zambia into a modern, high-income country.