While the World Fights Tariff Wars, Is Zambia Missing the Real Export Opportunity?

While the World Fights Tariff Wars, Is Zambia Missing the Real Export Opportunity?

By Michael C. Kalungwana

As global giants entrench themselves in export restrictions and tariff battles, a quiet but critical question arises for developing nations like Zambia:

Are we playing the same game – or are we still preparing for one that’s long changed?

From Washington to Brussels to Beijing, trade is being weaponized. Countries are imposing bans, hiking tariffs, and reconfiguring supply chains. Amidst all this, opportunities are emerging for new players – especially those who can anticipate global needs and step in with strategic exports. But for Zambia, the real challenge isn’t production – it’s perception. Do we even know what the world truly wants?

The Export Illusion: Raw Goods in a Value-Added World

Zambia exports what it grows – maize, soybeans, groundnuts, tobacco, and cotton. But here’s the hard truth: the world no longer just wants raw materials. It’s hungry for finished, ready-to-consume, and ethically sourced products that carry the story of sustainability, innovation, and traceability.

At trade expos and investor summits, what’s getting attention isn’t a 50kg bag of soybeans from Chipata. It’s a well-packaged bottle of soy milk. It’s cassava flour labeled “gluten-free, African-grown.” It’s baobab snacks, moringa teas, and cold-pressed oils – all products we could produce locally but aren’t, largely because we lack exposure to global market needs.

Why Zambia’s Greatest Export Challenge is Insight, Not Output

Over the last decade, I’ve worked across public health and development projects, and one pattern is clear: our systems are rich in supply data but poor in market intelligence. We know how much groundnut was harvested in Eastern Province. But do we know that the UK’s demand for natural peanut butter is surging post-Brexit? Or that organic cassava flour is one of the fastest-growing gluten-free alternatives in Europe?

We don’t. And the consequences are costly.

Without structured market research and export intelligence, our agribusinesses remain disconnected from global consumer trends. Our policy frameworks focus on tonnage and not transformation. Our cooperatives think in bulk – not in branding. And our youth, brimming with entrepreneurial spirit, often lack the information to innovate for export-ready markets.

The Missed Opportunity: Exposure and Market Visibility

Part of the problem is exposure – not just to global prices but to global preferences. We need to understand what makes a product valuable in New York or Nairobi. Is it the processing? The packaging? The organic certification? The story behind it?

Imagine a digital dashboard showing real-time demand trends, broken down by product type, region, and buyer demographics. Imagine pairing that with Zambia’s production data to guide cooperatives, startups, and government decisions. That’s the future we must build – because guess what?

The world is realigning. And Africa can either supply it smartly or miss out – again.

So, What Now?

If we want Zambia to reach its full export potential, we need to move fast on a few fronts:

• Invest in export intelligence systems that blend trade data, buyer preferences, and finished goods trends.

• Support value-addition infrastructure for SMEs – not just big corporations.

• Expose farmers, processors, and policymakers to global food and product trends through exchange programs, trade fairs, and buyer-seller platforms.

• Empower youth entrepreneurs with not just capital, but clarity: what should they be producing for export, and for whom?

Its Time to Change the Export Conversation

While the world is fighting a visible war over tariffs, Zambia’s battle is more subtle – but equally urgent. It’s a fight for visibility, for insight, and for a seat at the table where global tastes are defined.

We are not lacking potential – we are lacking the knowledge of where that potential fits in the global puzzle.

It’s time we stop exporting just what we can grow and start exporting what the world actually wants.

The difference is not just economic – it’s transformational.