It pains me to see that three and a half years after Independence there is not a single Zambian-owned business in Cairo Road. There is not even a resident expatriate business or a foreign controlled business or any business for that matter with a Zambian manager in Cairo Road. (Kaunda, 1968: 30)

Few African countries have much effective control of their economies. Foreign and alien minority interests are still dominant. Many have proclaimed policies to remedy this situation, usually including some mixture of prohibition of aliens in business, aid to indigenous businessmen, and seizure or establishment of businesses by the government or government-controlled agencies. Countries as diverse as Ghana, Kenya, Zaire, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia have such policies, aimed at increasing indigenous control of the economy. Such policies and programs are seen as assertions of “economic independence.” Indeed, “indigenization,” the replacement of aliens with locals, is certainly a prerequisite to economic independence, if not independence itself (Ghai, 1973: 21-42).

This paper will examine the new policies designed to indigenize the Zambian economy and their actual impact on private indigenous business. Two questions must be answered. How successful have the policies been, as proclaimed and implemented by the government and ruling party? And, what factors have contributed to this result? Many proclaimed or hoped for consequences have not occurred. The growth of private African enterprises has been to some degree stymied by these new policies, called “economic reforms,” while foreign or alien-owned businesses continue growing, though at a slower rate.