Riding high

10 things to know about Zambia, the new US darling in Africa

By Julian Pecquet, in Washington

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Posted on April 12, 2023 11:31

© US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema (R) are seen at the State House in Lusaka on March 31, 2023 during a press conference. – Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Friday asked the United States to help expedite debt restructuring negotiations with the country’s creditors, during a visit by Vice President Kamala Harris. (Photo by – / AFP) — US Vice President Kamala Harris (L) and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema (R) are seen at the State House in Lusaka on March 31, 2023 during a press conference. – Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema on Friday asked the United States to help expedite debt restructuring negotiations with the country’s creditors, during a visit by Vice President Kamala Harris. (Photo by – / AFP)

The southern African nation of Zambia briefly found itself at the centre of the US foreign policy agenda at the end of March.

Just as US Vice President Kamala Harris prepared to sit down with President Hakainde Hichilema in Lusaka, his country was serving as the only African nation to co-host President Joe Biden’s second Summit for Democracy. Two months earlier, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had stopped by the land-locked country of about 20 million people as part of the first trip by a top US official since the US-Africa Leaders Summit in December.

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