A delegation from the Economics Association of Zambia, led by President Dr Edna Kabala-Litana, met Bank of Zambia Governor Dr Denny Kalyalya and his senior team for talks that stretched from the kwacha to economic literacy in rural districts. The two institutions agreed to work together on joint research, policy dialogue and training.

By The Zambian Economist Analyst
2 October 2026 | Leadership & Governance

When the Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) walked into Bank of Zambia headquarters in Lusaka, it was more than a protocol visit. The Association that has spent years hosting economic debates, training young analysts and publishing policy commentary was sitting down with the institution that sets the country’s monetary policy, manages the kwacha and guards the banking system.

The EAZ delegation was led by its President, Dr Edna Kabala-Litana. On the Bank’s side, Governor Dr Denny Kalyalya headed a full receiving line: Deputy Governor Dr Francis Chipimo (Operations), Deputy Governor Ms Rekha Chifuwe Mhange (Administration), Chief Operating Officer Mr Isaac Muhanga, and directors from across the Bank’s departments.

What was on the table

The talks ranged over Zambia’s economic development agenda, the current macroeconomic outlook, and how the two institutions can work more closely together.

For EAZ, the pitch was straightforward. Dr Kabala-Litana thanked the Governor and the Bank for the support the Association has received over the years, then set out what EAZ sees as its lane: a bridge and platform for economic discourse, policy advisory and continuous professional development.

She proposed four practical areas of collaboration:

• Joint research pairing EAZ members with BoZ economists
• Policy dialogue that brings practitioners into the room when monetary and macroeconomic questions are being debated
• Capacity building for economists inside and outside government
• Public economic literacy, taking the language of inflation, interest rates and exchange rates out of seminar rooms and into reach of ordinary Zambians

The Governor’s response

Governor Kalyalya welcomed the ideas and commended EAZ for its contribution to economic discourse and policy advocacy in Zambia. He committed the Bank of Zambia to continued support for the Association and to deepening collaboration in areas of mutual interest, with macroeconomic stability and sustainable growth named as the common objectives.

The Governor’s engagement with civic institutions is consistent with the Bank’s statutory mandate on price stability, and it signals that the central bank sees value in a professional body like EAZ as a sounding board outside its own walls.

Why this matters beyond the meeting room

Central bank decisions reach every household in Zambia, from the interest rate on a bank loan to the price of mealie meal tracked through the exchange rate. Yet the reasoning behind those decisions is often locked in technical language. A partnership that includes public economic literacy is a step toward changing that.

For EAZ members, economists and young professionals, joint research and capacity building with the Bank opens a direct line to the data, the debates and the people shaping monetary policy. For policymakers, it widens the pool of informed voices contributing to the conversation.

The EAZ says it looks forward to strengthening the partnership with the Bank of Zambia in advancing economic dialogue and supporting Zambia’s development agenda.

Images: EAZ

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Related: EAZ Courts FNB Zambia for Post-Budget Dinner Support and a Formal Partnership.

Related: EAZ Opens Partnership Talks With Uganda Economists on Joint Outlook Reports and a Shadow MPC.

By The Zambian Economist Analyst | 5 September 2026 | Leadership & Governance

Introduction

The Economics Association of Zambia has a new president, and she got there by the narrowest of margins. Dr Edna Kabala Litana, a senior lecturer and researcher at Copperbelt University, was elected at the association’s elective Annual General Meeting in Livingstone, taking 142 votes to 135 for Mr Yenda Shamabobo. The seven-vote gap, out of 298 ballots cast, was confirmed in results published on the EAZ members’ portal at eaz.org.zm.

Dr Nicholus Obby Mainza, the third candidate, finished with 21 votes, 7.1% of the total. Turnout tells its own story: fewer than 300 members voted in an association that counts professional economists, academics, analysts and students among its intended base.

How the presidential vote went

Who is Dr Edna Kabala Litana?

She is an economist with a PhD and a master’s degree in the field, more than a decade of practice and around five years in management roles. At Copperbelt University she teaches, supervises research and works on applied economic questions, and she previously served within the University of Zambia Business and Economics Association.

She ran an open campaign for a “stronger EAZ”, with pledges centred on member value, policy leadership and the construction of a permanent EAZ House. Her ticket attracted public backing along the way, including from UNZABECA, which pointed to her leadership record as something economics students could see themselves in.

The rest of the ballot

The presidential race was the closest contest of the day. The vice-presidential race was not: Mr Laban Simbeye took 234 votes, 78.5%, against 64 for Mr Emmanuel Zulu.

The committee member race drew the biggest field, eight candidates and 1,150 votes in total, suggesting members spread multiple votes across the list. Ms Ronna Zya led with 189 votes (16.4%), followed by Mr Eugene Chandi on 170 (14.8%), Miss Betty Luwando on 164 (14.3%) and Mrs Natasha Hach’s candidacy on 154 (13.4%). Mr John Ng’andu, who campaigned publicly as Dr Kabala Litana’s running mate, Ms Magret Kabanga (116 votes, 10.1%), Mr Thengo Eric Ngondo (108, 9.4%) and Mr Batwell Hachizibe (101, 8.8%) also stood.

What the numbers say about the association

A seven-vote victory is a mandate, but a thin one. Just under half of voting members chose Dr Kabala Litana, and a nearly equal number preferred someone else. Her first job as president is therefore internal: convincing Mr Shamabobo’s 135 supporters that the association belongs to them too. Appointments and committee assignments over the coming weeks will show whether she reaches across the divide.

The turnout figure is the quieter problem. An association that aspires to be the voice of Zambia’s economics profession drew 298 presidential ballots. Growing that base is precisely what her member-value platform was built to address, and it is now the measure her term will be judged against.

Why this matters beyond the membership

The EAZ’s job is credible interpretation. When ZamStats releases inflation figures, when the Bank of Zambia moves the policy rate, or when the Ministry of Finance presents the national budget, the association is supposed to help the public understand what the numbers mean. When it goes quiet, guesswork and unverified figures circulating on WhatsApp fill the gap.

A president who researches and teaches economics for a living is placed to rebuild that function quickly. The first test arrives with the next major statistical or policy release: will the association’s view be one journalists bother to chase?

What happens next

Dr Kabala Litana now has to constitute her executive council from the winners above and turn manifesto lines into a work programme. The EAZ House, the most expensive promise, will depend on fundraising and partnerships that have not yet been announced. Between now and the next AGM, the scoreboard is simple: subscriptions, timely commentary, and visibility.

For business: A revived EAZ would give firms another source of independent economic briefings, training and networking. Watch its events calendar over the next six months.

For investors: Local analyst commentary quoting the EAZ again would add a domestic perspective to reporting that currently leans on the IMF, the World Bank and bank research desks.

For policymakers: A functioning professional association can be a channel for pre-budget consultation. Ministries that want proposals stress-tested before announcement have an interest in the EAZ recovering its strength.

Conclusion

Elections at professional bodies rarely make headlines. This one is worth noticing because of what the organisation is supposed to do and has not been doing. Dr Kabala Litana asked members for a mandate to rebuild the EAZ around its members, its voice and eventually its own building. Livingstone gave her the mandate, by seven votes. The scoreboard from here is simple: subscriptions, commentary and whether, at the next budget, the association’s opinion is one journalists bother to chase.

More on the EAZ: Zambia’s Economists Gather in Livingstone to Elect New Leadership | EAZ 2026: The Continuity Question Facing Zambia’s Economists | Nicholus Obby Mainza Is Running for EAZ President on a Record | Emmanuel Zulu: What the EAZ Vice Presidency Candidate Is Offering | ZIPAR Comes On Board as Sponsor of the EAZ 2026 AGM | EAZ Should Offer Hichilema a Five-Year Economic Advisory Compact | EAZ Seeks Formal Partnership With Finance Ministry as Musokotwane Calls for Practical Policy Ideas

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Related: EAZ Courts FNB Zambia for Post-Budget Dinner Support and a Formal Partnership.

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By The Zambian Economist Analyst | 4 September 2026 | Livingstone

Key Takeaways

• The EAZ elects its new council today, 4th September, on the final day of its 2026 AGM at Avani Victoria Falls Resort in Livingstone.
• The core choice before delegates: return a council that has held the association together through a bruising economic period, or hand over to fresh faces who would begin with a learning curve.
• Evidence from professional associations internationally shows that planned, staged transitions outperform sudden wholesale turnover in membership organisations.
• The decisive test is trajectory: continuity only earns a mandate when the record shows delivery.
• Results are expected by close of proceedings. The full list of elected office bearers will be published here once confirmed.

The business end of the Economics Association of Zambia’s 2026 Annual General Meeting has arrived. The sessions have been held, the panels have spoken, and the item that will outlast everything else on the agenda is the vote.

Delegates at Avani Victoria Falls Resort in Livingstone will today elect the council that carries the association’s voice through the coming term. The ballot paper will carry names, but the real choice before members is older than this meeting. Every membership organisation eventually faces it: renew the mandate of the people who steadied the ship, or hand the wheel to someone new?

The oldest question in organisational life

Political scientists call it the incumbency question. Management scholars call it board turnover. Professional associations around the world call it the AGM. Whatever the label, the evidence gathered across decades and continents points in a consistent direction. In membership organisations, sudden wholesale change is among the riskiest moves a general meeting can make.

The reasons are structural.

A professional body’s most valuable asset is not its letterhead or even its membership register. It is institutional memory: the accumulated knowledge of who answers the phone at the Ministry of Finance, how a policy position is negotiated into a national budget speech, which media house will carry a considered economic comment without flattening it into a headline. That knowledge lives in people, not in files. When experienced hands leave at once, it walks out of the room with them.

The American Economic Association, the Royal Economic Society in the United Kingdom, and the International Economic Association all conduct their leadership changes through staged, overlapping terms. Officers rotate rather than vacate en masse. The design is deliberate. It guarantees that at any given moment, someone at the table knows where the bodies of past negotiations are buried, and where the opportunities are.

What continuity actually buys

For the EAZ, the argument for a renewed mandate rests on a record that members can verify. The outgoing council period has coincided with the association holding a visible, quoted position in national economic debate through an extraordinarily difficult stretch: a power deficit that squeezed mines and manufacturers, a debt restructuring that is being implemented rather than archived, and food prices that continued to do the real talking in household budgets.

An association does not stay relevant through that environment by accident. It takes a council that shows up, that maintains relationships with the Bank of Zambia, the Ministry of Finance and ZamStats, and that keeps the association’s name attached to credible analysis rather than comfortable silence.

Continuity, in other words, is another name for the compounding of relationship capital. Compounded assets, every economist in that room knows, are the ones that yield the most.

The honest case for new blood

Fairness requires saying clearly that new faces bring real value. Fresh candidates often carry fresh networks, new technical specialisms, and an outsider’s impatience with “how things are done.” Association governance literature is full of cases where long-serving boards drifted into groupthink, and the entrance of an energetic newcomer reset the institution’s ambition.

New people are welcome. Every great association was, at some point, led by people who were once new. The risk is timing and dosage. A newcomer joining a functioning team adds to it. A newcomer replacing an entire functioning team at once subtracts from it, first quietly through lost memory, then loudly through stalled initiatives.

The international best practice, visible from the Institute of Directors to the Commonwealth associations model, is exactly this: renew aggressively at the margin, change cautiously at the core. Bring in new talent. Keep the spine.

The test delegates should apply

Strip away the personalities and the campaign conversations in the hotel corridors, and today’s vote comes down to a single question each delegate can ask of every candidate on the ballot:

Has this person, or this team, delivered something the association would not have had without them, and is the unfinished work better served by their return than by a restart?

Where the answer is yes, the evidence from association management worldwide says renewal of mandate is the lower-risk, higher-return choice. Where the answer is no, no amount of familiarity should save an incumbent. Continuity earns its mandate; it is never owed one.

Applied honestly, that test lets delegates honour both loyalties at once: gratitude for the record, and discrimination about the future. It is also the test this publication applied when it examined the association’s electoral rulebook earlier this year.

A watching brief

Whatever the delegates decide, the stakes are easy to state. The incoming council will speak for Zambia’s economists at a moment when the profession’s tools of restraint, sequencing and credibility are exactly what the national economy needs. The kwacha’s path, the electricity gap, the last miles of debt restructuring, and the joblessness that headlines undercount will all land on the new council’s desk within weeks of the vote.

To every candidate who offered themselves: standing for office in a professional body is unpaid, often thankless, and essential work. The association is richer for the contest, and The Zambian Economist wishes the best candidates the day. May the delegates’ verdict, weighed in the voting line at Avani and delivered by close of proceedings, give the association momentum as well as winners.

Election results are expected by the end of today’s proceedings. The full list of elected office bearers will be published here and on our social channels as soon as it is confirmed. The association’s official record is carried at eaz.org.zm.

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By The Zambian Economist Analyst | 3 September 2026 | Livingstone

Zambia’s economists have taken over a conference wing of Avani Victoria Falls Resort. The Economics Association of Zambia opened its 2026 Annual General Meeting in Livingstone on Thursday, bringing together members from government, banks, universities, think tanks and the private sector for two days of sessions and, most consequentially, elections.

The association’s official notice, issued in July, set the delegate fee at K3,750 for paid-up members. What that fee buys is a vote on who runs the council for the coming term.

What is actually being decided

An AGM of a professional body rarely makes headlines. This one matters for a different reason. The EAZ council is one of the few institutions that can take a public position on fiscal and monetary policy while drawing on members who sit inside the very institutions making those decisions, from the Bank of Zambia to the Ministry of Finance to the Zambia Statistics Agency.

Whoever is elected council president this week will spend the next term fielding questions on the kwacha, on electricity supply, and on how the government’s fiscal arithmetic is tracking. The association’s credibility with the public depends on how clearly and honestly those answers are given.

Why Livingstone, and why now

Hosting the AGM in the tourist capital rather than Lusaka is a deliberate signal. Livingstone’s hospitality sector has been rebuilding after a difficult few years, and the association has previously used its gatherings to argue for tourism’s place in the diversification conversation, away from the copper-first story that dominates national accounting.

Victoria Falls town also gives the association a natural case study. Delegates only need to walk outside the hotel to see a sector where dollars, kwacha and visitor numbers intersect daily, and where arrivals have been recovering as global travel normalises.

The agenda the new council inherits

The incoming council takes office with a full in-tray, but also with genuine progress to build on. Zambia’s debt restructuring has moved from negotiation to implementation, with agreements reached with both official creditors and Eurobond holders. Copper earnings remain the largest single source of foreign exchange, and heavy investment in new mine capacity is under way. The electricity supply gap that emerged in late 2024 is being addressed through imported power and new generation projects, and the kwacha has been comparatively steadier than in recent years.

For ordinary Zambians, the work that remains shows up in prices. Food inflation has been the stubborn item in the consumer price basket, and the cost of mealie meal, fuel and transport still shapes household budgets more than any headline GDP figure. Closing that gap between macroeconomic progress and what people feel in their pockets is the real test for the profession.

What happens next

Election results and resolutions from the AGM are expected by the close of proceedings on 4th September. The Zambian Economist will update this article with the names of the elected council members once they are confirmed. The association’s notices page at eaz.org.zm carries the official record.

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By The Zambian Economist Analyst | Lusaka | 1 September 2026

The Economics Association of Zambia should use the opening of President Hakainde Hichilema’s second term to offer government a formal five-year economic advisory compact. The proposal should begin with the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, then extend to the ministries whose decisions shape jobs, prices, production and public investment.

This is not a call for EAZ to become an appendage of State House. It is a call for Zambia’s organised economics profession to become more useful, more visible and harder to ignore.

The timing could scarcely be better. President Hichilema took the oath for a second term on 1 September. EAZ is due to hold its Annual General Meeting in Livingstone on 3 and 4 September, with elections for a new leadership on 4 September. Two mandates are beginning within days of each other. One is political. The other is professional.

EAZ should meet that moment with an institutional offer: let Zambia’s economists help government test policy before citizens pay for mistakes.

A professional body should meet a political term with an institutional offer

EAZ already has the mandate. Its constitution provides for participation in the development of sound economic policy, the publication of research and the provision of advisory services to the public and private sectors. Its stated vision is to become a centre of excellence for independent economic policy analysis.

The Association has also said it wants to play an advisory role to government. The next step is to turn that intention into a working arrangement with deliverables, deadlines and public accountability.

Zambia is moving from one planning cycle into another. The Eighth National Development Plan covers 2022 to 2026, while the new presidential term runs to 2031. The Government has already opened work around a 2027 to 2031 Medium-Term Revenue Strategy. Decisions made now will shape taxation, borrowing, public investment and the space available for social spending over most of the new term.

EAZ should not wait to be invited into isolated workshops after the main choices have been made. It should propose a standing channel through which government can request analysis, and through which the Association can submit advice on its own initiative.

What a five-year advisory compact should contain

The compact need not create another expensive bureaucracy. It should organise expertise that already exists in universities, banks, businesses, research institutes, civil society and the public service.

A quarterly national economic council

EAZ should convene a quarterly technical meeting with the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, the Bank of Zambia and relevant sector ministries. Each meeting should focus on one defined problem and end with a short public record of the evidence considered, areas of agreement and unresolved questions.

The agenda should move beyond commentary on inflation and the kwacha. It should examine the quality of public investment, the cost of tax incentives, farm productivity, mining linkages, electricity constraints, employment and the performance of state-owned enterprises.

Independent policy and budget notes

Before every national budget, EAZ should publish a costed submission that identifies trade-offs. After the budget, it should explain who gains, who pays and whether the numbers are consistent with the Government’s fiscal targets.

Major policy proposals should receive the same treatment. A new subsidy, tax concession or state investment should be tested against its full cost, its likely effect and credible alternatives. Government would remain free to decide. The public would be better able to judge the decision.

Technical groups embedded around real ministry problems

The Ministry of Finance and National Planning should be the anchor, not the only partner. EAZ should establish rotating technical groups for Agriculture, Mines, Energy, Commerce, Small and Medium Enterprise Development, Labour and other economic portfolios.

These groups could review programme design, help ministries improve economic modelling and connect public officers with specialists outside government. The work should be demand-led and time-bound. A ministry facing a question about fertiliser support, power pricing or local content should be able to request a team with the right skills, not a general conference.

A public scorecard for the new term

EAZ should publish an annual independent scorecard on a small set of measures that citizens and businesses can follow. The indicators should include real household income, formal employment, productivity, domestic arrears, public investment completion and export value added.

Targets should be drawn from official plans and budgets. Methods should be published. Where data are missing or disputed, EAZ should say so plainly.

A rapid-response economics panel

Floods, droughts, fuel shocks, power shortages and abrupt movements in commodity prices do not wait for annual conferences. EAZ needs a roster of members who can produce short, reviewed advice within days of a major shock. Government would gain an additional source of analysis. The public would gain a sober explanation at the moment confusion is highest.

An economist in State House still needs economists outside State House

President Hichilema holds a degree in economics and business administration and a master’s degree in finance and business strategy. That background should make a structured relationship with EAZ easier to build.

It should not make the Association less necessary.

Economic decisions are rarely defeated by a lack of intelligence at the top. They fail because assumptions go untested, officials work in silos, political incentives shorten the time horizon or inconvenient evidence reaches the room too late. A president trained in economics should understand the value of an organised body that can challenge forecasts before they become budgets and question projects before they become debt.

The best advice will sometimes confirm the Government’s course. At other times it will recommend delay, redesign or reversal. That is the point. An advisory body that only applauds is not advising.

EAZ should ask whether Hichilema could serve as honorary patron

EAZ should consult its membership and State House on whether President Hichilema could serve as honorary patron of the Association. His economics background and the timing of a new term make the question worth asking.

Patronage could raise the profile of the profession, help bring young economists into EAZ and signal that economic debate belongs in national life. It could also give the Association more convening power when it calls ministries, businesses and universities to the same table.

But the title must be designed with care. EAZ’s own membership terms describe it as non-political and non-partisan. An honorary patron should therefore have no power to appoint the leadership, approve research, block publication or direct the Association’s positions. The arrangement should require member approval, a legal and constitutional review, a written statement of independence and a clear route for EAZ to publish criticism of government.

If those protections cannot be secured, EAZ should pursue the advisory compact without presidential patronage. Access is useful. Independence is indispensable.

Cooperation must include the right to disagree

For government, the attraction of this compact is straightforward. It would widen the pool of expertise available to ministries and create an early warning system for weak policy design. It would also help officials explain difficult trade-offs with evidence from a body outside government.

For EAZ, the compact offers relevance. Zambia does not need a professional association that appears mainly at conferences and ceremonial dinners. It needs one that produces work people can quote, test and debate.

For citizens and businesses, the gain would be better scrutiny. A farmer should be able to see the economics behind an input-support change. A small manufacturer should be able to understand the cost of unreliable power. A taxpayer should be able to compare what a public project promised with what it delivered.

None of this works if EAZ exchanges independence for proximity. Its funding should be disclosed. Government commissions should be published where security and personal data do not prevent it. Research teams should declare conflicts of interest. Dissenting views should be recorded when members reach different conclusions.

The Association must remain willing to say that a popular policy is expensive, that a target is unrealistic or that an official forecast rests on weak assumptions. That candour would make cooperation more useful, not less.

Livingstone can mark a change in EAZ’s national role

The EAZ meeting on 3 and 4 September should produce more than a new list of office bearers. Candidates for the Association’s leadership should be asked whether they support a formal advisory compact, what safeguards they would place around presidential patronage and which public products they would deliver in their first year.

A credible first-year programme would be simple: sign a memorandum with the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, publish two independent policy briefs, launch the annual scorecard and convene the first ministry technical group. Put the dates in the public domain. Report progress to members every quarter.

President Hichilema has received a second five-year mandate. EAZ is about to choose the people who will speak for Zambia’s economics profession. The Association should pledge to work with government now, while making clear that partnership will never require permission to tell the truth.

Zambia needs a stronger economic advocacy body inside the national conversation. EAZ should volunteer for the job.

Sources and related reading

• Economics Association of Zambia: About Us
• EAZ 2026 elective EGM notice
• State House: President Hakainde Hichilema’s background
• Ministry of Finance and National Planning: Eighth National Development Plan
• Zambia After the Oath: The Economic and Diplomatic Tests of Hichilema’s Second Term
• Zambia to Launch 2027-2031 Revenue Strategy Consultations
• EAZ Seeks Formal Partnership With Finance Ministry as Musokotwane Calls for Practical Policy Ideas
• Macroeconomy and Policy coverage

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By The Zambian Economist Analyst

A first print run of 500 copies is, by publishing standards, a modest bet. When fewer than 100 of them are left within weeks of release, that bet starts to look like a mispriced one. That is the position in which Shebo Nalishebo’s Uncommon Denominators now finds itself.

Dr Nicholus Mainza, National Secretary of the Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ), is the latest name on the growing list of readers who have bought the book. His purchase says something about the audience the title is reaching: not casual browsers, but people whose day job is thinking about the Zambian economy.

Who is Shebo Nalishebo?

Nalishebo is one of Zambia’s better known economic analysts, with a career spanning tax policy research and public commentary on fiscal and development questions. He has written and spoken extensively on taxation, public finance and economic policy, work that has made him a familiar byline and voice in Zambian economic debate.

Uncommon Denominators draws on that background. The book takes on Zambia’s development story, economics and public policy, the terrain Nalishebo has worked professionally for years.

A small print run tells its own story

Zambian non-fiction publishing is a thin market. Print runs are typically conservative because distribution is hard, bookshop shelf space is scarce, and most readers buy through WhatsApp orders and personal networks rather than retail chains. A 500-copy run is the industry’s realistic starting point, not a statement of modest ambition.

Within that context, selling through more than 400 copies is a genuine result. It suggests demand concentrated among professionals, students and policy watchers, the same readership that attends economic policy forums and follows budget analysis. The hardcover is priced at K500 and the paperback at K400, with free delivery within and outside Lusaka.

Why it matters

Books on the Zambian economy written by Zambian economists remain rare enough that each one expands a very small shelf. Most of the standard references on Zambia’s fiscal history are written by foreign academics or institutions. A domestically produced, domestically bought title that sells out its print run is evidence that a paying audience for homegrown economic analysis exists, which is good news for the next author contemplating the same gamble.

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Emmanuel Zulu, an economics and business management practitioner with 15 years of professional experience, believes the Economics Association of Zambia can do more for its members while strengthening its place in Zambia’s economic and public-policy debate. He is asking members to elect him National Vice President for the 2026 to 2028 term at the elective AGM in Livingstone on 3 to 4 September.

His campaign focuses on stronger membership benefits, energetic leadership, stakeholder collaboration, evidence generation and closer relationships with economics associations and think tanks in the region.

Behind those commitments is a career spanning economic-policy analysis, competition economics and public finance. Zulu has worked in public institutions, the private sector and civil society, giving him experience across different parts of Zambia’s economic and institutional environment. He says this exposure has strengthened his belief that economists should have a stronger platform from which to contribute evidence, ideas and practical solutions to national development challenges.

Fifteen years across economic policy and public finance

Zulu currently serves as Economic Governance Lead at the Civil Society for Poverty Reduction, where his responsibilities include generating evidence for policy dialogue and advocacy on economic and fiscal governance. His professional work has covered economic-policy analysis, national budget analysis, tax equity, public debt sustainability, social protection and inclusive trade, issues at the centre of many of Zambia’s economic-policy debates.

For Zulu, that experience has reinforced the importance of economists participating more actively in public discourse. His pitch to EAZ members is therefore not simply about occupying a leadership position. It is about using the Association as a stronger professional platform for economists to contribute to Zambia’s economic conversation.

Academic and professional background

Zulu holds a Master of Business Administration with Economics and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics, along with a Postgraduate Certificate in Competition Policy and Law and a Postgraduate Certificate in Monitoring and Evaluation. His professional and academic background brings together economics, business management, competition policy, public finance and policy evaluation. He says he would bring to the position a commitment to credible analysis, constructive engagement, collaboration and service.

For EAZ members, the more important question is what that experience would mean for the Association. His campaign attempts to answer it through a five-part vision for an EAZ that is relevant, inclusive, member-centred, visible and connected.

Putting membership benefits higher on the agenda

One of the clearest themes of the campaign is the call for a more member-centred EAZ. Professional associations ultimately depend on whether members can see value in belonging to them, and Zulu wants EAZ to respond more directly to the professional needs, ideas and aspirations of its membership.

His campaign proposes stronger platforms for:

• Professional networking
• Mentorship
• Peer learning
• Research exchange
• Economic-policy dialogue
• Professional development
• Opportunities for young and emerging economists

The underlying message is straightforward: EAZ membership should create opportunities. Zulu argues that members should not only belong to the Association but also have meaningful opportunities to participate in its work, contribute ideas, share research and develop professional networks. For younger economists, he sees EAZ as a potential bridge between academic training and professional practice. For experienced economists, the Association can provide a platform for mentorship, knowledge sharing and contribution to national economic debates.

An Association that reaches across generations and sectors

Zulu describes his preferred EAZ as an inclusive Association that actively engages economists across generations, sectors, institutions and provinces. Economists work across government, academia, banking, civil society, consulting, development institutions and private companies, and each group brings a different perspective to economic questions. His vision is for EAZ to become a professional meeting point where those perspectives can be brought together.

Such an approach could allow senior economists to share experience, younger professionals to build networks and members working outside Lusaka to participate more meaningfully in Association activities. For Zulu, inclusion is not simply about numbers. It is about ensuring members can participate and see value regardless of where they work or what stage they have reached in their careers.

Making EAZ more visible in national economic debate

Zulu is also campaigning for a more visible Economics Association of Zambia, one that is more active in public-policy dialogue, research dissemination and engagement with government, academia, civil society, the private sector and development partners. Zambia regularly confronts difficult policy questions around the national budget, public debt, taxation, employment, investment, trade, social protection and economic growth, and Zulu believes EAZ has the professional expertise within its membership to contribute more consistently to those discussions.

Under his vision, the Association would increasingly become a platform through which economists can bring professional analysis into public debate, with the ambition of being recognised as a trusted professional voice when important economic questions are being discussed.

From members’ research to policy influence

A central component of the campaign is evidence generation. Zulu wants EAZ to strengthen platforms through which members can share research, exchange ideas and contribute solutions on issues affecting Zambia. Among the areas identified in his candidate profile are:

• Public finance
• Employment
• Investment
• Trade
• Social protection
• Sustainable economic growth

That agenda could give economists working in universities, government institutions, businesses, research organisations and civil society a common professional platform for presenting evidence and exchanging views, and could increase the visibility of research being undertaken by individual members. Zulu’s broader argument is that EAZ should not merely react to economic developments. It should contribute evidence while policies and national economic choices are being debated.

Stronger stakeholder collaboration and a regional reach

The campaign also places considerable emphasis on collaboration, proposing stronger relationships with government institutions, universities, private-sector organisations, civil society, development partners and other professional bodies as a way of expanding the Association’s reach and influence. For members, stronger institutional relationships could create more opportunities for professional interaction, research collaboration, knowledge exchange and participation in economic-policy discussions.

Zulu also wants EAZ to strengthen collaboration with economics associations and think tanks across the region. Trade, investment, public debt, energy, climate-related pressures and regional integration all require economists to exchange ideas across countries, and regional collaboration could give members greater exposure to research partnerships, professional networks, conferences and wider policy discussions, while giving Zambian economists a stronger platform in regional economic conversations.

Young and energetic leadership

Zulu’s campaign material places young and vibrant leadership among his commitments, though his own description of leadership goes beyond age. He says leadership requires someone who can listen, mobilise, collaborate and follow through, and his argument is that leadership should ultimately produce results members can see.

A five-part vision for EAZ

If elected, Zulu says he will support the EAZ President and Executive Committee in building an Association that is:

• Relevant. A trusted professional voice on major economic issues affecting Zambia.
• Inclusive. An Association that engages economists across generations, sectors, institutions and provinces.
• Member-centred. An organisation responsive to the professional needs, ideas and aspirations of its members.
• Visible. An Association that participates more actively in policy dialogue, research dissemination and engagement with key stakeholders.
• Connected. A platform that strengthens mentorship, networking, peer learning and opportunities for young and emerging economists.

The choice for EAZ members

The contest for the EAZ vice presidency is ultimately about what members expect from their professional association over the next two years. Zulu is asking them to support an EAZ that is more active in national economic discussions, more connected to stakeholders and more deliberate about creating professional opportunities for its membership. His professional record covers economic policy, public finance, competition economics and evidence-based advocacy, and his campaign seeks to translate that background into a broader programme for the Association.

He summarises his ambition in a simple campaign message: “Driving EAZ growth, advancing membership opportunities.” His wider vision is equally clear: inclusive leadership, a stronger professional voice and a more vibrant EAZ. The decision now rests with EAZ members, who will determine whether his combination of membership development, policy engagement, professional collaboration and regional outreach represents the direction they want the Association to take.

Emmanuel Zulu’s pitch to EAZ members

For Zulu, the argument for his candidature comes down to the future role of the Association:

• Can EAZ provide greater professional value to its members?
• Can it create more opportunities for younger and emerging economists?
• Can it make greater use of the expertise already within its membership?
• Can it strengthen its voice in Zambia’s economic-policy debate?
• And can it build stronger relationships at home and across the region?

These are the questions at the centre of his campaign for National Vice President. As EAZ members prepare to make their choice for the 2026 to 2028 term, Emmanuel Zulu is asking them to back his vision of an Association that is relevant, inclusive, member-centred, visible and connected.

Editor’s note: This candidate feature is based on biographical information and campaign material supplied in support of Emmanuel Zulu’s candidature. Statements concerning future EAZ programmes and priorities are campaign proposals by the candidate.

Related coverage

• ZIPAR Comes On Board as Sponsor of EAZ’s 2026 AGM in Livingstone
• EAZ Opens Nominations for 2026 Elective Extra-Ordinary General Meeting
• EAZ Elections 2026: Why Its Rulebook Needs Fixing First

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ZIPAR, the government’s public policy research institute, has come on board as a sponsor of the Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) 2026 Annual General Meeting, strengthening a partnership the two institutions already run under a memorandum of understanding. The AGM is scheduled for 3 to 4 September 2026 at Avani Resort in Livingstone.

The sponsorship was confirmed during an engagement between the EAZ team and ZIPAR on 18 August, part of the association’s intensified stakeholder mobilisation ahead of the meeting. The EAZ team met Emmanuel Muma, ZIPAR’s Business Development Manager, and Swala M. Chama, Research Associate in the Business Development Unit, to discuss collaboration and support towards the successful hosting of the AGM.

A partnership already underpinned by an MoU

EAZ and ZIPAR have an existing MoU reflecting a shared commitment to advancing economic research, policy dialogue and professional development. ZIPAR has also continued to support EAZ members through knowledge-sharing, research collaboration and professional opportunities.

EAZ said it sincerely appreciates ZIPAR’s continued partnership, confidence and support. “Together, we continue to build stronger partnerships and a stronger economics profession in Zambia,” the association said.

The road to Livingstone

With only a few weeks remaining, EAZ continues to intensify engagements with key institutions and partners ahead of the 3 to 4 September meeting at Avani Resort. The September gathering is an elective one, at which the association’s leadership will be chosen. EAZ opened nominations for the 2026 elective meeting in July, and the association’s own electoral rules have already drawn attention ahead of the vote.

What to watch between now and 3 September: which other institutions join as sponsors, and whether the MoU produces joint research or publications timed to the meeting. Both outcomes would extend a partnership that, until now, has mainly lived in knowledge-sharing between the two institutions.

Related coverage

• EAZ Opens Nominations for 2026 Elective Extra-Ordinary General Meeting
• EAZ Elections 2026: Why Its Rulebook Needs Fixing First
• Why Every Zambian Should Understand the Budget Before Voting
• What the Next Government Inherits: Zambia’s Economic Position on 14 August 2026

WARNING! All rights reserved. This material and all other digital content on this website may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed, in whole or in part, without the prior express permission of The Zambian Economist. Where permission is granted, the content must be clearly credited to “The Zambian Economist,” with “www.zambianeconomist.com” prominently displayed.

WhatsApp: +260775574228 | Email: info@zambianeconomist.com
© 2026 The Zambian Economist.

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Related: Emmanuel Zulu: What the EAZ Vice Presidency Candidate Is Offering Members

On the fiscal trade-offs facing whoever forms government: Balancing Politics and Fiscal Discipline: The Economic Cost of Populism

In a notice issued by National Secretary Nicholus Obby Mainza, the Association confirmed that the elections will be conducted in accordance with Articles 19 and 21 of the EAZ Constitution and overseen by the duly appointed EAZ Electoral Committee, working with an Independent Returning Officer.

The Electoral Committee, mandated to superintend the preparation and conduct of the polls, says it has finalised the electoral roadmap and approved the commencement of the nomination process, with a commitment to an exercise that is transparent, credible, free and fair.

Positions on Offer

Five categories of office are open for nomination, each carrying a prescribed nomination fee:

Who Qualifies

Eligibility has been pegged to demonstrated commitment to the Association. A member seeking election must be a fully paid-up member of EAZ for at least three consecutive years, hold valid EAZ membership credentials, and meet all further requirements set out in the EAZ Constitution and the approved electoral guidelines. Aspirants must also submit a completed nomination application form within the stipulated window and settle the applicable fee.

How to File

Nomination application forms are available from the EAZ Secretariat offices from Monday, 27th July 2026. A complete nomination package must contain a duly completed and signed nomination application form, a one-page biography or profile, a recent high-resolution passport-size photograph, a curriculum vitae, and proof of payment of the nomination fee.

Packages are to be submitted electronically to the EAZ Secretariat at secretariat@eaz.org.zm and to the Independent Returning Officer at muyundaarthur@yahoo.com. The Association has been unequivocal that late submissions will not be considered.

The Electoral Committee will verify all applications received and publish the list of eligible candidates in line with the approved roadmap.

The Electoral Roadmap

The nomination window is therefore a tight ten-day run, opening on Wednesday and closing on Friday, 7th August, leaving prospective candidates little room to assemble documentation and clear their membership standing.

Why It Matters

The EAZ occupies a distinctive space in Zambia’s policy landscape. As the professional home of the country’s economists, its leadership shapes the Association’s voice on fiscal policy, debt, monetary management, and the broader development agenda, a voice that carries weight in national budget consultations and public economic debate. Whoever emerges in Livingstone in September will inherit that platform at a moment when questions of growth, cost of living and fiscal consolidation remain firmly at the centre of national conversation.

Members seeking clarification on the AGM or the electoral process may contact the EAZ Secretariat on +260 979 697 853 or +260 978 631 868, or by email at secretariat@eaz.org.zm.

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Related: ZIPAR Comes On Board as Sponsor of EAZ’s 2026 AGM in Livingstone

Related: Emmanuel Zulu: What the EAZ Vice Presidency Candidate Is Offering Members