Abstract
Natural resources stand high on the agenda of a number of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa (AfDB, 2013). Resource-rich countries usually depend on single main export product. Zambia being a member of both COMESA and SADC as two RECs in Africa has copper reserves of roughly 20 million tons and is the second largest copper producer in Africa. 70% of country’s foreign exchange revenue is coming from copper. When copper prices fall on world markets, this means lower convertible currency earnings for Zambia. Zambia’s dependence on copper makes the country vulnerable to commodity price fluctuation and external shocks. Diversification of the Zambian economy from dependency of copper and development of other industrial sectors could bring economic growth, more stability and create new opportunities for the economy in the future. The objective of this paper is to map and analyse the current relevant export-related status quo of Zambia as a member of COMESA and SADC based on the raw material basis of Zambia, with an emphasis on its current and potential future extraction of copper, and diversification on mind.
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