Only about half of Zambians approve of the country's overall direction and are satisfied with the way the "new dawn" government is managing the economy, a new Afrobarometer survey shows.
Key findings
- Only half (51%) of Zambians say the country is going in the right direction (Figure 1). This perception increases sharply with respondents' education level and economic status (Figure 2).
- About half (52%) of Zambians say economic conditions in the country are "fairly bad" or "very bad," and almost as many (48%) say the same about their personal living conditions (Figure 3).
- Management of the economy tops the list of important problems that Zambians want the "new dawn government" to address, followed by health, infrastructure/roads, water supply, agriculture, and unemployment (Figure 5).
- Very few Zambians say the "new dawn" government is performing "fairly well" or "very well" on keeping prices stable (20%), maintaining roads and bridges (28%), narrowing income gaps (33%), providing water and sanitation services (40%), and improving basic health services (42%) (Figure 6).
About half of citizens describe the country's economic condition and their personal living conditions as bad, although a majority expect things to get better during the coming year.
Management of the economy and health top the list of problems that Zambians want the government to address, ahead of infrastructure/roads, water supply, and agriculture.
While President Hakainde Hichilema's "new dawn" government won the 2021 election by a landslide, these findings suggest that the government's ability to address economic problems and provide quality public services may be a key to sustaining the support it has enjoyed from Zambians.
