  Countries in Africa that are in this class, lower middle income, include the following Angola, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Arab Republic of Egypt, The Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Mauritania, Morocco, Nigeria and São Tomé and Principe. IMPLICATIONS OF SOVEREIGN CREDIT RATING   The rating that has been assigned to Zambia reflects strong economic performance as shown by the GDP growth rate. This has also been supported by low rate of inflation and fiscal deficits, external sector performance supported by the mining sector, and activities in key economic sectors, including agriculture and tourism, as well as strong external balance position after huge debt relief from international creditors obtained in 2005.   The rating puts the Zambian business community and government in a strong position to access finance globally at risk adjusted interest rates for investment that is essential for sustained economic growth and improved living conditions of the citizens.   Furthermore, the rating entails transparency in the economic management of the country’s resources and provides an opportunity for the country to work on the weaknesses identified by the rating agencies. For instance, from the rating report it was noted that Zambia still faces challenges in the energy sector and infrastructure development. It therefore, follows that once the country addresses the identified weaknesses, the rating could improve.   In summary, the rating assigned to Zambia shows stability and predictability of government policies and signals improvements in the business environment. This is also comparable to our peers in Africa.
With increased globalisation of the world  4  BIS central bankers’ speeches  economy, there is no doubt that Zambia stands to benefit from the rating assigned on condition that the country adopts appropriate policies that are supportive to sustainable economic growth environment. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MINING AND MANUFACTURING (MFEZ) A. Mining    Growth in the Zambian mining and quarrying sector has continued to be strong since privatisation. In 2010, the growth in the sector was 15.2% (20.2% in 2009), thus contributing strongly to the 7.6% real GDP growth in 2010.   Growth in metal mining was 16.0% with copper and cobalt output increasing by 17.4% and 49.4% to 819,159.19 mt and 8,781 mt, respectively.   During the first half of 2011, total copper output at 414,984.5 mt, was 4.0% higher than 399,062.0 mt produced during the corresponding period of 2010. Similarly, cobalt output was 4,352.7 mt, 8.5% higher than 4,012.8 mt produced in the first half of 2010.   This outturn was largely explained by the increase in the scale of production by the mines coupled with the rebound in copper prices, following the relative recovery in the global economy. B. Manufacturing    Performance of the manufacturing sector in 2010 and the first half of 2011 have been favourable with a 4.1% growth in 2010 (2.2% in 2009). Growth has largely been driven by agro-processing (food & beverages), including production of nonmetallic mineral and fabricated metal goods, chemicals, explosives and construction materials (such as cement).