The investment landscape is undergoing a major […]

The investment landscape is undergoing a major transformation as investors increasingly shift focus away from Lusaka toward secondary cities, with financial experts warning that the country’s next major property boom will be driven not by cheap land, but by infrastructure development, industrial expansion, and emerging economic corridors.

 For decades, Lusaka has dominated Zambia’s property market due to its concentration of government institutions, financial services, corporate headquarters, and high-income households, but rising land prices and declining returns are now forcing investors to search for alternative growth markets.

In an interview with Zambian Business Times – ZBT, financial expert Jones Sambaombe said Zambia’s property market is no longer simply a Lusaka story but is increasingly becoming what he described as a “corridor story.”

“The biggest mistake investors make is assuming Zambia’s property market is still centered around Lusaka alone. Smart investors are no longer asking where the biggest city is they are asking where the next economic corridor is emerging,” Sambaombe said.

He explained that the appeal of secondary cities goes far beyond cheaper land prices, stressing that land alone does not create wealth unless supported by economic activity. “Investors are following infrastructure, logistics, industrial development, mining expansion, agricultural value chains, and population movement. Cheap land alone has never created wealth,” he said.

 According to Sambaombe, cities such as Solwezi, Ndola, Kitwe, Chingola, Kasumbalesa, Livingstone, Kafue, and Chongwe are increasingly being viewed as strategic economic centers rather than ordinary provincial towns.

He said major infrastructure projects such as the Lobito Corridor and road rehabilitation works across the Copperbelt and Northwestern Province are already reshaping Zambia’s economic geography. “Where goods move efficiently, people move. Where people move, housing demand follows. And where housing demand rises, land values appreciate,” he noted.

However, Sambaombe cautioned investors against assuming every town connected by infrastructure automatically becomes a profitable property market. “Real estate follows jobs, not roads alone. Infrastructure must attract productive economic activity such as mining, manufacturing, tourism, logistics, and agriculture processing if property values are to rise sustainably,” he said.

 He added that Zambia could soon witness certain secondary cities delivering stronger property returns than Lusaka itself.

Article by Tyndale Muchiya