A big surprise for me was a major new mall located directly across the street from the Co-op College where Pam and I both delivered training programs. During my time in Zambia it was far out of town and was reached by passing a long stretch of empty land and the city’s cemetery. Nothing else was nearby. Now it is the busy destination of many, many shoppers. These malls with busy shoppers are a huge contrast to long slow-moving lines outside small shops in the 1980s which were unavoidable for many people needing to purchase basics like ground maize and cooking oil.
As widely reported elsewhere, the Chinese are a dominant presence everywhere. One of the major sponsors of the annual “chiefdom” celebration that we attended while in Choma was a Chinese mining company. Their Chinese managing director delivered a major speech during the ceremony.
Cell phones are also everywhere in Zambia, including among those rural farmers who ride their bikes to market over-loaded with goods for sale. Telephone transfers of money are a major form of making payments. While we were in Choma, our host purchased a watermelon from a roadside vendor (i.e., an elderly woman sitting on a blanket as she attempted to sell a dozen watermelons and some cucumbers, tomatoes, and a few other vegetable) via a phone transfer of kwacha, Zambia’s currency. This is a very popular alternative to cash and credit cards.
