LUSAKA, Zambia (AP) — Zambia holds an election Thursday to decide if President Hakainde Hichilema will get a second five-year term as reward for his economic recovery plan in the southern African nation that’s one of the world’s top copper producers but was recently mired in a debt crisis.
Zambia defaulted on sovereign debt repayments to China and other nations in 2020 in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing attention to the unsustainable burdens faced by some developing countries.
Hichilema was elected a year later, and Zambia has restructured more than $12 billion in debts to other countries and private creditors under his leadership while reigning in inflation and stabilizing the currency.
His long-term economic plan involves a pledge to more than triple Zambia’s copper output to 3 million metric tons a year by 2031 — which would be a staggering rise that could put Zambia ahead of the United States and China in terms of global producers of the in-demand critical mineral.
Hichilema won a presidential election in 2021 having lost in five votes before that stretching back to 2006. The 64-year-old is a former financial services executive but also has a background in farming and is one of the nation’s biggest cattle ranchers.
He is a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church and has led the United Party for National Development since 2006.
In a field that includes 13 other presidential candidates, analysts say Hichilema’s strongest challenger will likely be Brian Mundubile, the leader of an opposition alliance called the Tonse Alliance.
The 55-year-old Mundubile, who is a law graduate, was not considered a major political figure in Zambia but emerged in January as the leader of Tonse after it was embroiled in internal wrangles.
While inflation has dropped and the value of Zambia’s currency, the Kwacha, has improved under Hichilema, ordinary Zambians bemoan high food and energy costs. Some critics say the macroeconomic stability hasn’t benefited most people in the landlocked country of some 22 million.
“You expect a minimum of three years to be able to drive an economic agenda and turn around a country,” Zambian economist Trevor Hambayi said. “That has passed and they’ve had five years. But these effects have not yet trickled down to the Zambian people.”
Hichilema promised this week while campaigning to build more schools, health facilities and roads, and to create more jobs. “We love you so much and this is why we are working round the clock to lower the cost of living,” he said.
Another criticism of Hichilema is that he has squeezed dissent in a country where elections have been largely peaceful.
On Tuesday, the Tonse Alliance accused Hichilema’s government of being behind a law enforcement agency raid on its offices that saw vehicles, communication equipment and other items seized. The alliance alleged it was politically motivated to disrupt its campaigning.
Zambia gained independence from Britain in 1960 and was a one-party state from 1973 to 1991. Since then, several parties and political alliances have won and lost power.
Hichilema’s rivalry with his predecessor, the late former President Edgar Lungu, was especially bitter and continued even after Lungu’s death last year. When Lungu was president, then-opposition leader Hichilema was imprisoned for four months in 2017 on charges of treason after Lungu alleged Hichilema’s motorcade didn’t gave way to his on a road.
Lungu claimed he was effectively put under house arrest during Hichilema’s first term and had to sneak out of the country to seek medical care in South Africa.
Lungu died in South Africa in June 2025, prompting a macabre yearlong battle between Hichilema’s government and Lungu’s family over where the body should be buried. The government insisted it be repatriated for a state funeral, while the family said one of Lungu’s last wishes was that he not have a state funeral presided over by Hichilema.
The dispute, which fascinated Zambians, went to South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal. It ruled in favor of the family, though burial plans have still not been announced.
China is the top foreign investor in Zambia, especially for its copper and cobalt — critical minerals that are used in electronics, electric vehicles and other new technologies.
Those minerals have also drawn interest from U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration, though Zambia has accused the U.S. of tying critical minerals access to a proposed $2 billion health deal between the countries — allegations the U.S. rejected.
Voters in the one-day election on Thursday will also choose lawmakers in Parliament and local government councilors. Around 8 million people are registered to vote.
Zambia’s presidential election works on the 50% plus one system where a candidate has to get an outright majority to win. That raises the possibility of a second round of voting if no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote first time around.
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