Public administration involves coordination and management of resources, delivery of public services, and the creation and enforcement of regulations and laws to meet the needs and expectations of a country’s citizens. Zambia has a unitary system of government with a president as the head of state, which is further spilt into various departments and agencies, each responsible for specific policy areas. In 2021, the country elected a new president, Mr Hakainde Hichilema, who pledged to turn around the country’s infamous history of high corruption and unsustainable debt levels. Corruption levels, as measured by Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) remained the same in 2022 in comparison to its 2021 figure of 33%. The country has however made positive strides in reducing public debt with the signing of the 3-year $1.3 Bn Extended Credit Facility (ECF) arrangement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which will facilitate the restructuring of Zambia's foreign debt.

The Zambian government recently launched its 8th National Development Plan with the main agenda being socio-economic transformation for improved livelihoods. However, with the debt-to-GDP ratio reaching 126% in 2020, the new government has had to take a contractionary fiscal stance countering the socio-economic agenda. These conflicting but equally important objectives imply that the government must strike a balance in the development of the national budget, a key tool in public administration. Evidence of this conflict in seen in the 2023 budget in that while the government plans to spend more money in key areas such as health, total government expenditure (TGE) will decrease from ZMW 173.0 Bn in 2022 to ZMW 167.3 Bn in 2023, a 3.3% decline.

At Red Black Ventures, we believe that actualizing the full potential of the Zambian public administration sector requires a deeper understanding of the country’s unique social, political and economic landscape. We therefore keep a close eye on developments, gather data, and work with organizations to help grow the public administration sector in the face of competing priorities for resource allocation.