ke the transition to democracy it had to find a way. Some companies have begun housing projects that propose to build 200,000 houses a year and provide electricity to over a million annually (“Living Standards” 4). In addition exports to other countries had begun to rise and the government took advantage of this to lead the country into a period of sustained growth. According to some, these measures might even have been adequate enough to make noticeable positive effects in the labor market by the year 2005 (“Living Standards” 5).Unfortunately for Zambia, another country that was just entering into a democracy in the late eighties, its’ economic situation was worse than that of South Africa, and its future held no hope (EIU 11). The Zambian government faced a “Herculean economic task” when it came into power in 1991, with the GDP down 1.8 percent making it the third consecutive year of GDP contraction (EIU 4). The food, beverages, and tobacco industries were down 28 percent from the previous year, the maize crop was the worst the country had seen in years, and the mining industry remained weak and inadequate (EIU 11). President Chiluba, the newly elected democratic leader of Zambia, was left to deal with one of the worst economic situations any country had faced in decades. Zambia’s need to revive the economy immediately following the elections made the transition to democracy significantly more difficult and unstable (EIU 4). The previous government of Dr. Kaunda, rife with corruption, had left the economy in disarray causing all outside support to halt and leaving the country with no help. After skipping out on paying millions of dollars worth of debt back to the rightful owners and not going ahead with agreed upon changes within the reform program, Dr. Kaunda was voted out and it was time for Chiluba to take over (EIU 11). Zimbabwe also faced similar economic problems when it was decolo...
