Zambians voted in presidential, parliamentary and local elections on August 13, with President Hakainde Hichilema favoured to win a second term as voters weighed an improving economy against persistent cost-of-living pressures, Reuters reported.

Polls opened at 6 a.m. and were due to close at 6 p.m. across the copper-producing nation of 22mn people, with about 8.79mn registered voters choosing among 14 presidential candidates, according to the Electoral Commission of Zambia. Results are expected on August 17.

The vote doubles as a referendum on Hichilema's handling of an economy hauled back from crisis. Zambia became Africa's first pandemic-era sovereign defaulter in 2020, and the president has since steered it through a $13bn debt restructuring and single-digit inflation, a recovery many voters say they have yet to feel in their pockets.

"We are tired of stories about economic progress," said Samuel Chitendwe, a 47-year-old welder and father of four who backed the opposition. Many Zambians say they are struggling with the cost of living despite improving headline figures, the gap analysts see as Hichilema's main weakness at the polls.

Hichilema's main challenger is Brian Mundubile, a veteran former MP making his first presidential run on an NRPUP ticket backed by the opposition Tonse Alliance, backed by supporters of the late former president Edgar Lungu, who died in June 2025. The opposition draws some of its strongest support from Lusaka and the mineral-rich Copperbelt, while the ruling party is stronger in rural areas.

Copper anchors the whole picture. The metal brings in about 70% of export earnings and more than a tenth of GDP, and the government is chasing a 3mn-tonne annual output target by 2031 as it courts miners including First Quantum Minerals (TSX:FM) and Barrick Mining (NYSE:B). A rally in copper prices lifted the kwacha into the ranks of the world's strongest currencies this year, cooling price pressures and lifting first-quarter growth to 7.7% y/y.

Zambia completed a $1.7bn IMF programme in January and is targeting a fresh deal with the Fund before the end of 2026, having launched a $1.3bn Eurobond buyback in June as it shifted from restructuring to active debt management. Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has said the next government's job is to turn stability into investment and jobs.

The run-up has been marred by allegations of political repression, which the government denies. The EU has deployed 100 observers to watch a vote taking place in a country Freedom House rates only "partly free". A candidate needs more than 50% of the vote to win outright; short of that, a run-off between the top two must be held within 37 days.

Zambia has been one of southern Africa's steadier democracies, passing power between three parties since multiparty polls resumed in 1991. Analysts caution that a strong macro record is no guarantee at the ballot box, where voters tend to judge the economy by whether the lights stay on and jobs are easier to find.