Vol. 2, Issue 6, Part A (2016)

Abstract
Most developing countries that are rich in natural resources and are dependent on such resources have generally experienced poor economic performance. A strategy that has been useful in improving the economic performance of such economies is economic diversification. However, employing successful economic diversification strategies has been a challenge for many African Countries. Zambia is one of the African countries that have not been successful in diversifying their economies. In its case, Zambia has not satisfactorily diversified its economy from copper mining. With the conditions in the Copperbelt region indicating that the era of copper mining in this region is fast approaching its end, it has become even more urgent to identify and implement measures for diversifying this regional economy in preparation for this eventuality. This paper sets out by discussing Zambia’s economic diversification record at the national level since its independence in the early 1960s before it turns to discussing the diversification record of the Copperbelt region. The discussion reveals that on relative basis, Zambia’s diversification record at the national level is better, although it still needs improvement, and that at the Copperbelt regional level the record is poor and urgently needs improvement because of the nature of conditions prevailing in the region. The paper then uses a case study of the Black Country region in the United Kingdom to extract lessons for diversifying the Copperbelt region from its success record in economic diversification that saved the region from the depression that followed the collapse of coal mining on which its economy had depended for a long time.