Zambia is a member of both the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).Seventeen of the 21 Comesa member states are part of a free trade area, with neighbour the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the process of accession.Within SADC, 13 of the 16 member states are part of the free trade area, with the DRC again being one of the exceptions.Most of the goods entering Zambia from SADC and Comesa are duty free. This connectivity to the continent is ref lected in trade f lows. In 2019, 23% of Zambia’s total exports were intra-Africa, with the DRC and South Africa being the biggest trade partners.Almost half of Zambia’s imports were sourced from other African countries, with South Africa enjoying the lion’s share of 66% of the total.Together, South Africa and the DRC account for 73% of Zambia’s trade with the rest of the continent, according to Tralac.On paper Switzerland is Zambia’s top market, accounting for 42.1% of exports by value in 2018. This is due to the copper and metals trading houses based in Switzerland.The next-biggest export destinations are China (14.4%), the Democratic Republic of Congo (9.5%) and Singapore (7.7%).Zambia’s imports come from South Africa (28.8%), DRC (14.7%), China (13.6%), United Arab Emirates (6.3%), India (4.7%) and K u w a i t (4 .7 %) .The DRC figures are inf lated by the importation of copper ore and concentrate which are processed in Zambia. They account for 11.3% of the value of imports.There are opportunities for Zambian-based exporters in other markets.A missed opportunity to date is the access the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) gives to the United States market.Zambian exports are limited to tobacco, processed peanuts and semi-precious stones, according to the National Agoa Response Strategy and Action Plan for Zambia.The strategy, which was published in June 2018, focuses on three sectors for the short term: agriculture; processed foods; and home décor, leather, crafts and fashion. In the medium term, there is potential for textiles and apparel, leather and other clusters.According to the European Commission, Zambia has yet to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union, despite being part of the group which concluded negotiations on the agreement in 2007.Signatories are Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe. Zambia’s relations with China are clouded by debt estimated to be between US$6bn and US$9bn.A number of infrastructure projects have been suspended or abandoned due to the country defaulting on the repayment of loans. These include Chinese-funded projects.Zambia is due to make US$1.5 billion in debt repayments this year, more than its foreign currency reserves in January.According to official figures, Zambia, by the end of 2018, had debts of US$12 billion (51% of GDP). Around 30% is owed to China, 25% to bondholders, and 19% to foreign banksIn July this year president Edgar Lungu asked Chinese President Xi Jinping for some “debt relief and cancellation” in a telephonic conversation.There has been no official response.Zambian exports to China were valued at US$1.5 billion during 2019, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.Copper accounted for US$1.46 bn of the total.
