The kwacha is one of 2026's standout currencies. What does that buy you?

The Zambian kwacha was trading at about 19.12 to the US dollar on 4 September, up just over 20% on the year — a turnaround that has put it among the world's best-performing currencies, according to Trading Economics data. Analysts' models see it holding near 19 through the end of the quarter.

Three engines are doing the work. Copper — more than 65% of exports — has lifted export earnings to US$4.4 billion in the first quarter of 2026. A historic maize harvest, forecast at nearly five million metric tonnes, is cutting food-import demand for foreign currency. And the post-election continuity signal has kept investors in kwacha assets.

The honest caveat

A stronger kwacha lowers the price of imports — fuel, fertilizer, machinery — but researchers at the Center for Trade Policy and Development caution that exchange-rate strength only matters to households if it shows up in shop prices. That transmission is slow, and traders are quicker to raise prices than to cut them.

Bank of Zambia governor Denny Kalyalya has urged the public not to downplay the build-up in international reserves behind the rally. The next test: whether the central bank can defend these gains if copper prices cool.

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