Zambia wants to be a model for resolving Africa’s debt crises
President Hakainde Hichilema tells The Economist that China is “on board”
AFTER FIVE unsuccessful attempts and a spell in prison on trumped-up charges of treason, Hakainde Hichilema was elected president of Zambia in August. The businessman’s victory was due to voters’ anger at the corruption and collapsing economy overseen by his predecessor, Edgar Lungu. The West was cock-a-hoop. So too were mining firms, which had all but stopped investing in Africa’s second-largest copper producer because of high taxes and threats of expropriation.
This article appeared in the Middle East & Africa section of the print edition under the headline “Copper-bottomed promises”
Middle East & Africa May 14th 2022
From the May 14th 2022 edition
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