Under the shade of a large tree, surrounded by women, young people and other residents dressed in UPND colours, Jacqueline Sabao’s campaign photographs capture the local character of constituency politics.

There is no elaborate stage. Sabao, the incumbent Chikankata Member of Parliament, stands among residents and addresses them directly.

Her Sunday message was equally personal. She asked voters to reflect on the future they want for their families and communities as Zambia approaches the 13 August general election.

“A new week. A shared vision. A brighter future,” she told Chikankata residents.

Sabao thanked residents for the reception she has received during the campaign and asked them to give her another term as their UPND Member of Parliament.

A campaign built around continuity

Sabao is presenting her candidacy as a continuation of the development work undertaken during her current term.

Her message identifies stronger communities, opportunities for young people, support for farmers and public participation as priorities for the next parliamentary term.

The campaign statement does not specify new project budgets, employment targets or agricultural programmes. These details will be important to voters assessing what another term would deliver beyond the broad promise of continuity.

Sabao currently represents Chikankata in the National Assembly. She has participated in parliamentary proceedings and was previously recognised with the Nelly Mutti Outstanding Woman MP Overall Award, according to the National Assembly of Zambia.

Agriculture and youth remain central concerns

Chikankata District has one constituency divided into 14 wards. The district is about 68 kilometres from Lusaka and depends heavily on agriculture and related rural economic activity, according to Chikankata Town Council.

The council’s Constituency Development Fund reporting identifies agriculture as a priority and records youth participation in farming initiatives supported through CDF.

For Sabao, the economic question is how constituency programmes can move beyond one-off grants and create farming businesses capable of reaching dependable markets.

Young people will also want details on skills development, access to finance and the types of businesses that could succeed within Chikankata’s local economy.

What another term would need to answer

Sabao’s call for continued development gives voters a broad direction, but the next step is a measurable constituency programme.

• unfinished projects from the current parliamentary term;
• proposed schools, health facilities, roads and water projects;
• the number of young people targeted for skills and business support;
• agricultural extension, irrigation and market-access plans;
• CDF approval and monitoring processes; and
• how residents in all 14 wards will participate in setting priorities.

Publishing these commitments would allow voters to compare Sabao’s programme with those offered by other Chikankata candidates.

The final days before the vote

Sabao has called for respectful engagement during the remaining campaign period and urged residents to approach the election with hope and unity.

“On 13 August, I humbly ask for your vote as your Member of Parliament for Chikankata Constituency,” she said.

The Electoral Commission of Zambia has set Thursday, 13 August 2026 as polling day. Campaigning is scheduled to close on Wednesday, 12 August, according to the ECZ election timetable.

For Chikankata’s voters, Thursday’s decision will be about whether Sabao’s message of continuity is matched by a sufficiently detailed plan for the constituency’s next five years.

Campaign in pictures

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Official unemployment fell to 10.3% in 2025, the joint-best reading in years, but extreme poverty is still close to 48% and most working Zambians earn their living outside any formal payroll.

What Actually Fell

Zambia’s unemployment rate stood at 10.3% in 2025, down from previous years, according to the African Development Bank’s latest Zambia Economic Outlook. The improvement sits alongside a rise in real GDP per capita growth to 2.4%, up from 1.0% in 2024, and the Bank frames it as evidence of “progressively more inclusive growth.”

The number is real. It is also incomplete. A national unemployment rate measures whether someone worked for pay or profit in a reference period. It does not measure whether that work paid enough to live on, whether it came with a contract, or whether it lasted beyond the harvest or the campaign season.

The Informal Economy Problem

Most working Zambians earn their living outside a formal payroll: market trading, smallholder farming, transport, piecework construction and small-scale retail. None of that counts as unemployment in the official statistics, and much of it does not show up in tax records either. A falling headline rate can therefore coexist with rising underemployment, where people who say they are working are doing so for a fraction of a standard week or for income well below the poverty line.

Growth Without Jobs Feeling Like Growth

Real GDP growth was initially estimated at 5.2% for 2025 before the government revised it down to 3.8% in March 2026, matching 2024’s pace, after underperformance in information and communication, wholesale and retail trade, and finance and insurance. Extreme poverty eased only slightly, from 49% in 2024 to 48% in 2025. Put together, growth is translating into fewer jobless people on paper, but not yet into a broad-based lift out of poverty.

Business Implications

A tighter formal labour market can push up wage expectations in sectors competing for skilled staff, from mining services to banking. Employers hiring for formal, salaried roles should expect more competition for qualified candidates even while informal underemployment remains widespread. For retailers and consumer-facing businesses, the poverty numbers matter more than the jobs numbers: nearly half the population still has extremely limited spending power.

Investor and Policy Implications

The Bank of Zambia and the Ministry of Finance and National Planning have both leaned on education, health, agriculture and cash transfers as the main tools for reducing inequality. For investors, the read-through is that Zambia’s growth story remains real but narrow, concentrated in mining, agriculture and energy recovery rather than broad-based job creation. Sustained progress on poverty will depend on whether growth reaches labour-intensive sectors such as agro-processing and construction, not just capital-intensive mining expansion.

Key Takeaways

• Zambia’s unemployment rate fell to 10.3% in 2025, but extreme poverty remains close to 48%.
• Most working Zambians are in informal employment, which the headline unemployment rate does not fully capture.
• Real GDP growth was revised down to 3.8% for 2025, matching 2024, after weaker services performance.
• Education, health, agriculture and cash transfers remain the government’s main levers against inequality.

Related reading: Zambia’s 7.7% GDP Growth: Why It Doesn’t Feel Like It and Zambia Copper Production 2026: Can Copper Deliver Jobs, Growth and Lasting Prosperity?

Related: Opinion – What a Second Hichilema Term Would Mean for Zambia’s Economy