1 Kwacha

Zambia's shift to aluminium bronze for the kwacha coinage in 1992 came as the country was in the grip of severe economic deterioration — the kwacha had lost the majority of its value through the late 1980s and early 1990s, partly as a consequence of copper price collapses that gutted government revenue in a country where copper had once accounted for over 90% of export earnings. The 1992 date also coincides with Zambia's return to multiparty politics after nearly two decades of single-party rule under UNIP.