AS ZAMBIA elects its seventh president, Zimbabweans remain burdened by the one president the country has ever known, commentators on social media pointed out last week as Zambians went to the polls. Comparing the two countries is nothing new. Since the days when they were both part of a federation, there has been rivalry, from the state of their economies, which have swung from prosperity to poverty, to who has the best views of the Victoria Falls, on their joint border, WRITES DIANNA GAMES.

Zimbabwe is experiencing its worst economic crisis in a decade, while Zambia has been in better economic shape, with relatively strong GDP growth and diversified new investment. Zimbabwe’s effective one-party state and lack of leadership change has led to its stultifying politics and economic woes. Zambia has had a succession of new faces and parties at the top. Yet, despite apparent democratic expression and its comparatively more robust economy, Zambia is far from having realised its economic or social potential. Its patchy record over decades raises the question of why democracy has not served it better.

With a seventh president in the wings, the IMF has been called in to bail out an economy that has slumped drastically. Read more ...

- Published in Business Day SA, 15 August 2016