Zambia's Service Economy Turns a Corner — But Two Sectors Are Being Left Behind

CICM REPORTER: LUSAKA

There's a number in the new Zambia National Customer Satisfaction Index that tells a story most Zambians already feel in their bones: 64.7%. That's the national score for 2025, up from roughly 57% in 2018 a seven-point climb that puts the country within reach of the Africa Customer Satisfaction Index's continental average of 63%.

Behind that figure sits the most ambitious customer-experience study Zambia has run: 7,400 respondents across all ten provinces and 22 sectors, more than double the 2018 sample of three provinces and 14 sectors. For the first time, every sector is benchmarked against 22 African countries and roughly 132,000 continental respondents — an external yardstick, not just a historical one.

The headline story is digital. Mobile Financial Services posted the single largest sectoral gain in the index's history, rocketing from 52% to 86% — now beating the continental benchmark outright. Banking and Courier Services rode the same wave of competition and tech investment. Tourism, too, has become a genuine strength: Hotels and Lodges (89% CSI) and Tour Operators (87% CSI) both outperform Africa's average, cementing Zambia's status as a top-tier regional destination anchored by Victoria Falls and the Lower Zambezi. In total, 15 of 22 sectors now beat the continental benchmark.

But going nationwide exposed a fault line a Lusaka-Copperbelt-Southern sample could never show. Western, Luapula and Muchinga provinces report satisfaction 12 to 16 points below the capital driven by agent network density, mobile coverage, and distance from service points, not any single sector's failure.

Then the sobering half. Local Authorities and Councils sit at just 41% CSI, with a Net Promoter Score of -30 the index's weakest performer, barely moved since 2018. Hospitals and Clinics trail at 48%. Both lag the African benchmark by the widest margins measured, and the report is blunt: this isn't a service-culture problem, it's a governance one, demanding capital investment and institutional accountability, not incremental fixes.

Quieter shifts stand out too. WhatsApp is now Zambia's default service channel at 40% preference, up from 30% in 2018, while Instagram and TikTok have surged to a combined 16% share. In-house contact centres have professionalised sharply: first-call resolution climbed from 46% to 65%, and call abandonment nearly halved.

Even small businesses are closing the gap with big corporates vendors and SMEs improved by 10 and 11 percentage points respectively since 2018, proof that scale alone no longer guarantees better service in Zambia's increasingly competitive market.

The report's own conclusion is less celebration than challenge: Zambia has proven excellent service is achievable with the people and technology already here. The real question isn't whether public institutions can close the gap it's whether they'll choose to.