At independence, copper-rich Zambia seemed set to become one of sub-Saharan Africa's richest countries. Today, after almost three decades of continuous intervention by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it is one of the poorest. Externally-imposed policies have included trade liberalisation, removal of legal restrictions on prices and amount of competition between businesses (deregulation), privatisation, subsidy cuts, reducing public-sector job opportunities and cuts in salaries. The consequence of this - a spiralling debt, very slow economic growth, destruction of key industries and social crisis - needs urgent attention to stop the situation from further deterioration.