By- The Zambian Kwacha has gained value in recent months and is now more robust than the South African Rand and other currencies in the southern African region.

The Zambian Kwacha has continued to demonstrate its overall stability for a couple of months now.

The appreciation is largely attributed to low demand for dollars on the market.

A recent check shows that the Zambian Kwacha is now 1: 1.04 South African Rand while USD1 is now 16.30 Zambian Kwacha.

In contrast, the Zimbabwean dollar continues to lose value against other currencies causing great confusion as to what could be wrong in Zimbabwe.

Former Deputy Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services, Energy Mutodi expressed disappointment while comparing Zimbabwe and Zambian currencies. He said:
Difficult to explain why the Zim currency is on free fall even with better mineral resources, and hard-working & educated people.
While there is low demand for the United States dollar in Zambia, the reverse is true in Zimbabwe.
Everybody, that is, the government, business and private citizens, want to get hold of the United States dollar.

This is mainly because the Zimbabwean industry is collapsed. Almost everything used in Zimbabwe is imported since the local industry cannot meet local demand. Imports demand foreign currency.
The huge backlog at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) SME and the Main foreign currency auction done every Tuesday is evidence of the huge demand for the greenback.