Story

Scenes in a Changing Zambia

June 24, 2013 | Pulitzer Center
By
Alexis Okeowo, for the Pulitzer Center

A group of Chinese construction workers in Lusaka. Image by Eddie Mwanaleza. Zambia 2013.

A Chinese and Zambian construction team building a university outside of Lusaka. Image by Eddie Mwanaleza. Zambia 2013.

The Tuesday vegetable market in Lusaka where Chinese and Zambian farmers sell their produce. Image by Eddie Mwanaleza. Zambia 2013.

A worker weighs a bag of pig parts at a Chinese farm near Lusaka. Image by Eddie Mwanaleza. Zambia 2013.

The Tuesday vegetable market in Lusaka. Image by Eddie Mwanaleza. Zambia 2013.

A street in Lusaka. Image by Eddie Mwanaleza. Zambia 2013.

Women standing in front of a sign of the Zhongmei Engineering Group, a Chinese company constructing roads in Chongwe District. Image by Eddie Mwanaleza. Zambia 2013.

Street commerce. Image by Eddie Mwanaleza. Zambia 2013.

The Tuesday vegetable market in Lusaka. Image by Eddie Mwanaleza. Zambia 2013.

At a market in Lusaka. Image by Eddie Mwanaleza. Zambia 2013.

Zambia is an extreme picture of what China in Africa looks like. Chinese immigrants have settled in urban and remote areas all over the country, doing not only the kind of work that has been the most controversial in Zambia—mining—but working in other industries such as manufacturing, construction, agriculture, and tourism.

Last year, in fact, manufacturing topped the monetary list of Chinese investments, at just under $200 million (though some of the manufacturing is related to resources extracted from mining). Construction and agriculture are two other booming fields for immigrants. It is difficult to find a road works project or building renovation without Chinese workers. The same goes for markets in and around the capital. These photos show a glimpse of the changing scenery of Zambia.