Bank of Zambia in the 1938 formation of the Southern Rhodesia Currency Board, which was based in Harare, in present-day Zimbabwe. The Board's jurisdiction included Northern Rhodesia, now called Zambia and Nyasaland, known as Malawi today. In 1954 the Southern Rhodesia Currency Board was renamed the Currency Board of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, and as the winds of change were strong in Africa at the time, the currency board was transformed into the Bank of Rhodesia and Nyasaland in 1956. In 1964 the Bank of Zambia was created from the Bank of Northern Rhodesia, which itself had only formed a year earlier in 1963
Northern Rhodesia crashed in 1931. An international agreement restricted output. This caused a catastrophe in Northern Rhodesia where many employees were sacked, and put an end to hopes which many Europeans had held of turning Northern Rhodesia into another white dominion like Southern Rhodesia. Many settlers took this opportunity to move back to Southern Rhodesia, while Africans returned to their farms. Despite the economic crash large firms were still able to maintain a profit. The fact that unemployed workers had left meant there were no increases in taxation, and labour costs remained low. At a 1932 conference of copper producers in New