It is subdivided into 100 "ngwee". The series comprised five banknotes of 50 ngwee, 1, 2, 10, and 20 kwacha. It appears on Zambia's new 5 ngwee coin. In 1982, copper-clad-steel replaced bronze in the 1 and 2 ngwee. The name "ngwee" translates as "bright" in the Nyanja language.