Zambia under the new government

By early December, Zambia’s new government – under President Hakainde Hichilema (‘HH’) and the United Party for National Development (UPND) had been in office for one hundred days. The Institute marked the occasion with a hybrid workshop. Jeremy Seekings presented an analysis of what Zambian voters expected of the new government, emphasizing their high expectations with regard to economic management. A brief summary has been published. Sishuwa Sishuwa presented his analysis of political development over these first one hundred days, acknowledging some successes but pointing to some worrying developments. Sishuwa published his analysis online. Finally, Mundia Kabinga discussed the huge challenges of turning around the economy. The new government enjoys considerable goodwill from the country’s creditors, which has already resulted in agreed access to concessionary finance from the IMF and lower premia on commercial credit markets, and is benefitting from a higher copper price. But Zambia continues to face huge challenges with respect to the budget deficit and the scale of its foreign and domestic debt.