THE RICH BEGGAR (The Zambian Paradox)

Zambia is rich but why is she a beggar? Unarguably, Zambia has been surpassed by a lot of young countries in terms of economic development. For example, Zambia and South Korea were at the same level of development 56 years ago. Today, South Korea can proudly walk with its head held high as a rich country while Zambia is still crawling on soaring poverty levels and inequality. Simply put, Zambia is behind in almost all indices of human progress. Why is this the case? The Rich Beggar notes a number of inter-personal and cultural problems among Zambians which have contributed to the sluggish economic development. The author challenges the stereotype on the education system, religion, politics and Zambian time among others. He also goes further to propose solutions that would help in addressing the problems that have made Zambia a ‘Rich Beggar’.