The Foreign Minister is in St John’s for a summit themed on partnerships and investment. Zambia goes as Vice-Chair of the Commonwealth’s democracy watchdog and with a bid to bring the Commonwealth Youth Centre back to Lusaka.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Foreign Affairs Minister Mulambo Haimbe has arrived in Antigua and Barbuda to represent President Hakainde Hichilema at the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, running from 1 to 4 November.
- The summit theme is “Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth”, which government says fits the Grow Zambia Agenda’s push for investment and exports.
- Haimbe will attend the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers’ Meeting and the 75th meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), where Zambia is Vice-Chair.
- Zambia will use bilateral meetings on the margins to promote trade and investment and to support its bid to re-host the Commonwealth Youth Centre.
Zambia is represented at the 2026 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Antigua and Barbuda by Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Minister Mulambo Haimbe, SC, MP, who is standing in for President Hakainde Hichilema. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said in a statement dated 2 November that Haimbe had arrived for the meeting, which runs from 1 to 4 November 2026.
The summit is being held in St John’s under the theme “Accelerating Partnerships and Investment for a Prosperous Commonwealth”, with Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne in the chair. It is the first CHOGM under Commonwealth Secretary-General Shirley Ayorkor Botchwey, who took office in April 2025. The Commonwealth has 56 member states.
What Zambia is there to do
Beyond the heads of government sessions, Haimbe will attend the Commonwealth Foreign Affairs Ministers’ Meeting and the 75th meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. CMAG is the body that monitors serious breaches of the Commonwealth’s democratic values, and Zambia currently serves as its Vice-Chair. Haimbe represented Zambia at the previous CMAG meeting in New York in September.
The Zambian delegation will also take part in the Commonwealth Business Forum and side events on youth, gender equality, health and climate action. The Ministry says bilateral meetings on the margins will be used to promote trade and investment, and to support Zambia’s bid to re-host the Commonwealth Youth Centre.
The economic angle
The Ministry frames the trip as part of the Grow Zambia Agenda: marketing Zambia as an investment destination, promoting investment-ready projects and widening market access. The summit theme suits that pitch. Commonwealth members share legal traditions and the English language, and several of Zambia’s investors and lenders, including the United Kingdom, Canada, India and South Africa, sit around the same table.
The test, as with Haimbe’s recent asks at the Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, is what follows. Summit diplomacy is most useful when it produces signed deals, financing commitments or market access that can be tracked. The government has not yet published a list of projects or meetings planned for St John’s.
What to watch
- Bilateral outcomes. Any memoranda, investment pledges or financing announced on the margins.
- The Youth Centre bid. Whether Commonwealth members back returning the centre to Zambia.
- The final communiqué. Its language on climate finance, debt and trade, areas where Zambia’s own recovery from default gives it a direct interest.
Featured photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.
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