IKELENGI: THE DISTRICT THAT COULD CHANGE ZAMBIA, IF ZAMBIA NOTICES IT
There is a quiet district in the far corner of Ikelengi, tucked inside North-Western Province, where three countries almost shake hands. It is rich in rivers. Rich in forests. Rich in soil. And yet, painfully poor in opportunity.
For years, it has remained more of a footnote than a headline.
Now, after the recent dismissal of long-serving Member of Parliament Elijah Muchima, who has represented the area since 2006 and most recently served as Minister of Health, questions grow louder. How can a district sit on abundance for decades and still feel forgotten?
This is not a story about one man. It is about unrealised potential.
WHAT IKELENGI HAS THAT ZAMBIA NEEDS
- Agriculture That Can Feed More Than Itself
Ikelengi has high rainfall, fertile soils, and flowing rivers such as the Jimbe. This is not dry scrubland. It is green. Consistently green.
The district can support:
Maize and cassava at commercial scale
Beans and groundnuts
Horticulture, including vegetables and fruits like ifinanazi (pineapples)
Aquaculture using its river systems
With proper irrigation schemes, storage facilities, and feeder roads, Ikelengi could shift from subsistence farming to structured agribusiness. That means exports. That means jobs. That means tax revenue.
Yet most farming remains small scale and largely informal.
- Tourism Zambia Barely Talks About
Near Ikelengi lie waterfalls and river landscapes that rival more publicised destinations. The district also borders Angola and sits near the Democratic Republic of Congo, offering cross-border tourism potential.
North-Western Province is already home to major mining operations. Tourists and business travelers pass through the province. But Ikelengi remains off the brochure.
With basic investment in lodges, road networks, and marketing, the district could plug into Zambia’s growing tourism value chain.
- Forestry and Timber Value Addition
The region has dense woodland and forest resources. Currently, much of Zambia exports raw timber or processes it at minimal levels.
Imagine:
Furniture manufacturing clusters
Wood processing plants
Eco-certified forestry exports
Instead of exporting logs, Zambia could export finished products. Ikelengi could anchor such an industry.
- Cross-Border Trade Hub Potential
Geography matters. Ikelengi sits near Angola and within reach of DRC markets. That location is not a weakness. It is a strategic asset.
With proper customs infrastructure, warehousing, and road upgrades, Ikelengi could serve as:
A trade gateway
An agricultural aggregation center
A regional logistics node
Cross-border trade, when formalised, expands revenue and strengthens local economies.
SO WHY IS IT STILL UNDERDEVELOPED?
This is where the discomfort begins.
For nearly two decades, the area had consistent parliamentary representation. Stability in leadership often provides leverage for development planning. Yet the visible transformation many residents hoped for has not materialised at scale.
Underdevelopment in rural Zambia usually follows a pattern:
Poor road networks
Limited electricity access
Weak investment attraction
Minimal value addition industries
Youth migration to urban centres
Ikelengi fits that pattern too closely.
WHAT IKELENGI COULD CONTRIBUTE TO THE NATIONAL ECONOMY
If structured properly, Ikelengi could contribute in four major ways:
- Agricultural exports to Angola and DRC
- Food security reinforcement for North-Western Province
- Timber and wood product manufacturing revenue
- Tourism diversification income
This is not fantasy. Zambia’s mining boom in North-Western Province has already shown how quickly economic geography can shift when infrastructure meets investment.
The question is whether non-mining districts like Ikelengi will receive similar strategic focus.
THE HARD TRUTH
Zambia often speaks about diversification. Yet diversification begins in places like Ikelengi.
Not in boardrooms. Not in speeches. On the ground.
A DISTRICT AT A CROSSROADS
Ikelengi is not poor because it lacks resources. It is underdeveloped because its resources remain unstructured.
Rivers that could power irrigation still flow past idle fields. Forests that could anchor factories remain largely unprocessed. Border advantages remain under-formalised.
The potential is not sleeping. It is waiting.
And Zambia cannot afford to leave waiting districts behind.
Because sometimes the quietest district holds the loudest economic answer.
Zambian Angle