Zambia: new president Hakainde Hichilema faces economic challenges
Newly elected President of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema during his speech to the press at his residence in Lusaka on Monday, August 16, 2021. © Tsvangirayi Mukwazhi / AP
Text by: Christina Okello
6 mins
Credited with more than 2.8 million votes according to the final results of the first round, Hakainde Hichilema was elected 7th President of the Republic of Zambia.
Zambians have raised their voices to the businessman, nicknamed "
HH
", in large part for his promise to turn the economy around.
From now on, the new head of state will have to meet the expectations of voters.
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"
This election was a referendum on the economy,
" Nicole Beardsworth, professor of politics at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa, told RFI. Zambia, a southern African country of 17 million people, faces a complicated economic situation. 60% of the population lives below the poverty line, according to the World Bank, and is struggling to make ends meet.
“
Voters waiting in lines at polling stations said they couldn't even get married because the men didn't have the money to pay the dowry.
So young women I spoke with said they were voting for Hakainde Hichilema in order to find a husband,
”says the expert, who spent five weeks in Lusaka co-leading a research network around the presidential election. .
Expected at the turn
If the victory of Hichilema, nicknamed "
HH
", was accompanied by scenes of jubilation in Lusaka and a concert of praise from African leaders, Beardsworth fears that the expectations are too high.
“
The Zambians put their trust in him to turn the economy around, and quickly.
This could be a trap,
believes the specialist.
I fear the weight of these expectations weighs heavily on his shoulders.
»Hakainde Hichilema will very quickly have to tackle several priority projects to reform Zambia, primarily
reducing the debt
.
Zambia, Africa's second-largest copper producer, owes more than $ 12 billion to foreign creditors.
At the end of 2020, it became the first country to
default
on the interest on its debt.
About a third of this debt is owed to China.
During the campaign, Hakainde Hichilema criticized his rival for relying too much on infrastructure and not having invested enough in productivity.
Chinese companies contributed more than 80% to Zambian construction projects, as inflation soared.
Zambian President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on March 30, 2015 © Feng Li / AP
Negotiations with the IMF
The opacity of these transactions with China had cooled the International Monetary Fund, which during the presidential campaign had put on hold its negotiations with Zambia to renegotiate an emergency loan.
"
The new administration will have to be much more transparent than the previous one, by explaining what this debt looks like and how it intends to repay it
" explains Nicole Beardsworth.
For now, the IMF has planned to allocate special transfer credits to Zambia by the end of the month, allowing it to borrow and buy without taking on more debt.
The rise in the price of copper, supported in part by the rise of electric cars, should also benefit the new administration according to analysts.
“
The IMF's assistance, especially to mitigate the effects of the pandemic, will give Hichilema some leeway,
” adds Beardsworth, while acknowledging that this leeway will not last forever.
Political rights
Another issue on which Hakainde Hichilema is eagerly awaited: the issue of public freedoms.
Arrested fifteen times since he has been in politics, Hichilema on Monday promised "better democracy" and respect for human rights.
"
One of the most impressive things about his speech was his promise to remove the
" cadres "[" armed arms "of the country's two major parties]
from all aspects of Zambian life,
" explains Nic Cheeseman. , professor, specialist in democracies at the University of Birmingham
The "cadres", these self-defense groups close to the ruling party, have been accused of sowing violence in the country, and according to witnesses, are said to be at the origin of the disturbances which have erupted between supporters of the ruling party. rival camps in early August, which claimed the lives of two people.
"
If Hakainde Hichilema manages to rule them out, it will give the country's political and economic freedoms a boost
," concludes Nic Cheeseman.
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