Zambia

Economy & income

Currency

• Zambian Kwacha (ZMW, symbol K/ZK)
• ~18.1 per USD (Jul 2026) — kwacha strengthened ~20% over the prior 12 months on higher copper prices
• rebased in 2013 (dropped 3 zeros)

GDP per capita

• ~$1,385 nominal (2025, IMF WEO est; ~$1,235 in 2024, World Bank)
• ~$4,224 PPP (2024, World Bank)

Average salary

• ~$385/mo (~ZK7,000 average take-home; Ministry of Labour via wage.is, Jan 2026) — lifted by high earners
• the informal/subsistence majority earn far less

Median salary

~$129/mo (~ZK2,333 median monthly income; Ministry of Labour via wage.is, Jan 2026) — well below the average, signalling wide inequality

Minimum wage

• No single universal national minimum wage — sector schedules set by Statutory Instruments under the Minimum Wages & Conditions of Employment Act (Ch 276), revised Jan 2024
• general/domestic minimum ~ZK1,300/mo (~$72), higher for shop & transport workers (e.g. truck drivers ~ZK4,000 ≈ $221)

Cost of living

• Low — one of the world's cheaper countries in nominal USD
• Numbeo Zambia data is thin (few contributors) so treat indices cautiously (2025-2026)

Digital landscape

Population

21.6 million (Jan 2025)

Internet users

33.0% (~7.13 million; ~67% still offline)

Social media users

17.1% (~3.70 million identities; 54.8% male / 45.2% female)

Mobile connections

19.9 million cellular connections = 92.1% of population

Devices

mobile ~58.5% / desktop ~40.8% / tablet ~0.7% (StatCounter, Jun 2026)

Ad spend

• n/a — DataReportal Digital 2025 Zambia publishes no ad-spend figure
• the digital-ad market is small/nascent and heavily concentrated on Meta (Facebook)

Top social platforms

Facebook ~3.70M ad reach — the dominant social platform

LinkedIn ~1.00M members

Instagram ~476K

• WhatsApp — near-universal among data users — top messaging/social layer
• YouTube — widely used; DataReportal publishes no local ad-reach figure
• TikTok — fast-growing, youth-led; no local ad-reach figure published

Messengers

• WhatsApp (dominant — the default chat & social-commerce channel)
• Facebook Messenger (~311K reach)
• Telegram (smaller, growing)
• SMS/USSD (feature-phone & mobile-money users)

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods

• Mobile money — Airtel Money, MTN MoMo & Zamtel Kwacha (the dominant digital-payment rail; interoperable via the national switch)
• Cash (still widespread, especially rural/informal)
• Bank transfer / debit cards (small, urban formal segment)
• Cash-on-delivery / mobile-money-on-delivery for the little e-commerce that exists

E-wallets

• Airtel Money (largest MNO subscriber base)
• MTN Mobile Money (MoMo)
• Zamtel Kwacha
• Bank & fintech wallets (Zazu, Broadpay/Kazang agents — smaller)

Cash on delivery

• High — COD or pay-on-delivery via mobile money is the norm online
• card penetration and online-payment trust are low

E-commerce

• Low / nascent — most 'e-commerce' is Facebook/WhatsApp social selling
• local marketplaces (ZedMarket, Shop Zambezi) and OLX-style classifieds are small
• Jumia does NOT operate in Zambia
• cross-border via Shein/Temu/Amazon freight forwarders

Notes

• Mobile money (Airtel/MTN/Zamtel) is the backbone of financial inclusion
• USSD is the primary interface for feature-phone users
• the sector processes the bulk of retail digital value in Zambia

Audience & culture

Languages

• English (official — government, business, education & most online ads)
• Bemba (~33% — largest home language, Copperbelt & north)
• Nyanja/Chewa (~15% — lingua franca of Lusaka & east)
• Tonga (~11% — south)
• Lozi (~5.5% — west)
• Kaonde, Lunda, Luvale & others (7 official vernaculars in total)

Religion

Christian ~95% (Protestant ~75.3%, other Christian ~20.2%), Muslim ~0.5%, other ~2.2%, none ~1.8% — constitutionally declared a Christian nation

Median age

17.9 years (DataReportal, Jan 2025) — one of the world's youngest populations (~41% aged 0-14)

Key seasons

• Christmas & New Year (Dec-Jan — peak spending)
• Independence Day (24 Oct)
• Back-to-school (Jan)
• Easter
• Agricultural/harvest cash cycles (mid-year, rural incomes)
• Football: English Premier League & AFCON (year-round fandom)

Cultural notes

• Extremely price-sensitive
• mobile-first on cheap Androids & some feature phones
• Facebook + WhatsApp are effectively the social internet
• radio still huge
• deep Christian religiosity (gospel content thrives)
• football (EPL) mania
• trust plus COD/mobile-money essential for conversions

Where to find creators

• Facebook
• TikTok (fast-growing)
• Instagram
• YouTube
• Radio personalities & music/gospel artists

Media landscape

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Yo Maps ~545K Instagram (~2.6M Facebook)

Instagram/FacebookAfrobeats/pop superstar — the biggest Zambian artist; brand-safe mass reach

C

Cleo Ice Queen ~894K Instagram

Instagramrapper, TV/media personality & lifestyle — a top female influencer

C

Chile One MrZambia ~1.3M Facebook

FacebookAfrobeats/emotional-music star with a huge loyal fanbase

Chef 187 (Kondwani Kaira) ~668K Facebook

Facebook/Instagramhip-hop heavyweight — releases & opinions spark national debate

S

Slapdee (Mwila Musonda) ~709K Facebook (~181K YouTube)

Facebook/YouTubehip-hop pioneer & multi-award artist

Macky 2 (Mulaza Kaira) ~500K Instagram

Instagram/Facebookhip-hop veteran, producer, actor & entrepreneur

M

Mutale Mwanza ~473K Instagram (~1.7M across platforms)

Instagram/TikTokmedia personality & lifestyle influencer — top female entertainer

D

Dora Moononyambe ~3.5M TikTok

TikToktop Zambian TikTok creator — comedy/lifestyle, mass youth reach

Celebrities

Hakainde Hichilema ~2.3M Facebook (~773K X, ~262K Instagram)

President of Zambia (since 2021); businessman/farmer

Patson Daka ~305K Instagram

Footballer — Leicester City & Zambia national-team striker; 2017 CAF Young Player of the Year

Barbra Banda ~41K Instagram

Footballer — Copper Queens captain & Orlando Pride striker; global women's-football star

Racheal Kundananji ~19K Instagram

Footballer — Bay FC (NWSL); ~$860K world-record women's transfer (2024)

K

Kalusha Bwalya n/a (limited/small personal social)

Football legend — 1988 African Footballer of the Year; former FAZ president

E

Esther Phiri n/a (small personal social)

Champion female boxer — multiple-time world title holder & national sporting icon

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals

• Sports betting / iGaming (football-driven — the top vertical)
• Mobile content / VAS, airtime & data offers
• Finance: micro-loans / quick-cash & mobile-money offers
• Nutra / health (compliance-gated by ZAMRA)
• Dating (mainstream only)
• E-commerce / COD physical products (cautious)

Active networks

• Betway Partners Africa (Betway Zambia) & other betting-operator affiliate programs (PremierBet, 1xBet, Gal Sport)
• Global CPA networks running Africa/Tier-3 traffic (e.g., Alfaleads, ShakesPro, 3SNET, Affstream)
• Telco VAS / mobile-content & CPI programs (Airtel, MTN)

Payouts

• Low Tier-3 payouts: betting CPA/first-deposit ~$5-30
• CPL/leads often <$1-3
• nutra COD margins thin — a volume-over-payout market

Competition

• Low-to-moderate — small, low-income audience
• among the tougher Tier-3 African GEOs to monetize
• sports betting is the most contested niche

Seasonality

• Spending peaks Dec-Jan (festive) and around month-end paydays
• betting spikes around EPL/AFCON fixtures
• rural cash tracks the harvest cycle

Traffic sources

• Facebook/Meta ads + Facebook pages/groups
• TikTok
• Push/pop & in-app (RichAds/PropellerAds-type) on cheap Android
• WhatsApp & Telegram channels
• Google/YouTube (smaller)
• Influencer / radio shout-outs

Good to know

Capital

Lusaka

Major cities

• Lusaka (capital)
• Kitwe (Copperbelt)
• Ndola (Copperbelt)
• Kabwe
• Chingola
• Livingstone (tourism/Victoria Falls)

Time zones

Single zone — CAT (UTC+2), no daylight saving

Android vs iOS

88%

Android 88% iOS 12%

Phone brands

• Samsung (~21%)
• Tecno (~19%, Transsion)
• Apple (~12%)
• Infinix (~10%, Transsion)
• Huawei (~9%)
• itel (Transsion)

Top e-commerce

• Facebook Marketplace & WhatsApp vendors (dominant)
• ZedMarket / Shop Zambezi (local marketplaces)
• OLX-style classifieds & Facebook buy-sell groups
• Cross-border via Shein/Temu/Amazon freight forwarders

Peak activity

Weekday evenings ~19:00-22:00 CAT (cheaper night data bundles / home Wi-Fi) and weekends; usage tracks affordable-data windows

Creative taboos

LGBTQ content (same-sex acts illegal — highly taboo), explicit sexual content, disrespect of Christianity, witchcraft/occult imagery, and partisan/tribal politics

Also worth knowing

• Facebook + WhatsApp ARE the internet here — plan Meta-first
• reach on IG/X is comparatively small
• Monetize via mobile money (Airtel Money/MTN MoMo/Zamtel Kwacha) + COD, not cards
• keep landing pages ultra data-light for cheap Androids/USSD
• Sports betting (football-driven) is the hottest vertical
• The kwacha rebounded ~20% in 2025-26 on copper, but this stays a high-volume, low-payout Tier-3 GEO.