It has taken me a while to come up with a comment on this post because, I found it difficult to fully understand what Brian was trying to highlight. South African companies have entered the markets of many African countries and retailing seems to be areas they are good at. I am not sure why you were surprised at the fact that the predominant customers were the locals, perhaps you could shed more light here? I think that is to be expected. If you were to look deeper into their purchasing habits you would find that they are not buy the costly brands and they want to benefit from the more efficient supply chain, not to mention the ease of buying their requirements in the proximity of their homes and workplaces, instead of going to a distant retailer, opportunity cost basically. Anther consideration to be made is that Manda Hill enjoys visits by consumers from other parts of the city who come to enjoy the ambiance of the surroundings and are prepared to spend more, perhaps on transport or slightly higher prices, since its unlikely to be a regular stop for those who don't reside in the vicinity of such retail facilities. You mention that the stores have a reputation of low wages. This might be the case, but I would like you to appreciate the fact that relatively compared to purely locally owned retailers the wages offered to the employees of these foreign players are likely to be higher and they usually bring with them better human resource practices imported from their home countries, such as a pension schemes and employment contracts which allow for recourse in the case of disputes between employer and employee. Although these instrument's have obviously been around in Zambia for centuries as a legacy of British colonialism, as the retail sector becomes more competitive, employers will attempt to reduce employee mobility by improving work conditions so, I think its just a matter of time before they either shape up or ship out! Another matter I want to draw to your attention is that working for Shoprite or Game is likely to carry social value in the community as opposed to working as a garden boy for example, so at the moment one of the greatest factors on the wages paid to the employees is purely a matter of supply and demand and though I'm not sure of it, it is likely that the low wages are only at the lower levels of the organizational hierarchy, as you move up the ranks from supervisor to managerial levels and beyond you will find that, these players will be among the best payers and rank high as well, in 'The Company to Work For' rankings. Selling a high proportion of imported goods is driven by market research and as much as they are selling a high proportion of imported goods, if all the demand was to be aggregated it is unlikely to be significant enough to warrant the establishment of a local manufacturing plant for the products concerned. You need to bare in mind that the primary target of most of the imported goods in the top of the pyramid which is very thin. The fact that most of the profits are remitted to South Africa should not worry us to much I think, because Zambia is gaining as well, as you said earlier more employment opportunities regardless of the fact that the wages are still low, many people would rather be lowly paid that not have a job at all!!!! The benefits certainly out weigh the cost. Imagine the down stream effects, particularly the increase in demand for complementary services such as insurances, auditing, refrigeration, advertising etc. The issue of quality is one I think you must look at from a totally different perspective. From reading your profile I gathered that you are from the US and I think many people from the more developed world fail to appreciate the meaning of quality when all we are really talking about is a “foot long subway sandwich.” What I think your local tour guide was trying to articulate is the greater emphasis placed on the customer is king approach by retailers such as Game and Shoprite. As consumer we like to have our oversize egos gently stroked. This is a new way of doing things some businesses in Africa, and it brings me to my next point that African markets are as they are because of a lack of competition, telephone services are a good example. Before GSM, the service was mediocre, now they have been forced to pull up their socks, Internet service providers are another group which need to improve. Quality of service and adherence to service level agreements is sill very poor . It is the case in many other industries, look at banking (which I'm sure you understand better than me). The cost of banking services in Africa is high due the lack of scale in their operations, thats why most regulators have chosen to promote consolidation, look at Nigeria, Zimbabwe etc.

You suck, you racists, and your reports about my country, Zambia. I wonder what you come to do here, a place you loath so much. Please, demons, leave africa alone and go to Iraq. I have always wondered what love a creature who has no skin can have.I will never trust such a creature

The truth is Zambia is a wonderful country to travel in - warm, welcoming people, smiling faces, and an internal transportation system that is very slick. Jasmine Waits, Arizona Employee Handbook

As a fellow Zambian living abroad,I can understand when people don't see the brighter view of why we're really excited about our little shopping mall we have there"manda hill". But please don't just jump the gun and start calling the man a racist just because he has his own opinion about consumers in third world culture. Joe if I'm insulting your opinion,then I truly apologize. But then again if I do, then imagine how this man is feeling living in a country where he feels unwelcome because people are assuming he's racist. Whatever happened to voicing our own opinions in this world? Give the man a break. If you feel he offended you in any way, then please send the man an email and relay how you feel in the real Zambian way-"Politely", so he knows "we" Zambians are not racist, have never experienced it to an extreme, and will not stoop that low now in this day and age.

I just wanted to say that therez nothing racist about what he observed in Lusaka. I just wanted to add that having been stayed so long without a Shopping Mall. We in lusaka felt like we where still in the stone ages and wanted somewhere where we can chill and hang out, somewhere where we can stay away from the hustles and hustlers of our city centre. Manda Hill gave us some sense of moving forward and was something we where and are still proud of. And it also shed some light on international investors that they can make a profit in the retail business in Lusaka and this brought the uprooting of more shopping malls like Arcades, Downtown and Crossroads. And now they are talks of extending Manda Hill which i am greatly proud of, it is a sign that we are moving forward as a country. And the Zambian people are not Racist so that whole "Racist" remark you received, please discard that. The whole time i've lived in Zambia, i have never received any form of racism and have never been racist to anyone. Infact, because of Zambia, i didn't know how racism felt like. I only new when i went to North America(Don't worry, it was a selectable few who where racist). So Rob, you are welcome to go to Zambia any day you want, don't let any Racist fools stop you.

Anonymous, Many thanks for the clarification. That post is very innocent and we should read it as an opinion. In fact its a better opinion than from a person who just reads the press and has never set foot here. Zambians have not experienced racism and it sounds very foreign to us and our children. We have some foreign people (Indian, white, black, Asian, etc) that have come from places where racism exists and at first they are aprehensive. Upon noticing that Zambians coundn't care less, they learn the Zambian way and move on with their lives. A few expect to be treated better because they are white or asian but in Zambia that behaviour gets you into trouble as the Zambians may not understand what one is on about. They learn very fast. We are proud of our Manda Hill and I believe very soon each town will have their own version, Zambia is on the move, Copper prices willing and toes crossed. Cheers.

I have read the words from Bryan with keen interest,and i must also hasten to mention that it is disgraceful one of my fellow zambians would find them racist!!!.However,the article brings out a lack of understanding of where the country is coming from,the strategies in place to push the economy upwards.Coming from a person in the financing area,i will ask the writer to do more research before putting forth negatives about the few strides the country is making.More employment means more people have some sort of buying power,it means more taxes for the government,it means even him from the financing sector has got more potential customers with a stable income and hence with the capacity to pay back the loans-this i believe is the reason they sent him to Zambia.Please understand that economics is wide.If it wasnt for this improvement in the economy,even he wouldnt have found it viable to come to Zambia unless he was a charity giver and there are non like that in the micro finance sector in Zambia. The economics of Africa and Zambia in particular are not easy for an outsiders to fully comprehend and as such,i challenge the writer of the article to do more research and discover the many flaws in his current article

Brian was right. Enchiladas, subway- Strip malls is not the development that Zambia needs. Yes they provide employment, but how is Zambia benefiting. Are we keeping the profits from these malls. Are our children more educated, have enough to eat and health care because of these Malls. Open your eyes Zambia. I am a Zambian abroad and being on the offensive all the time and not listening to constructive critism or opinions? Bufontini, go get a job at Manda Hill and be exploited.