Zambia

Mining operations at the Kagem emerald mine will be suspended from today 1 January 2025 due to the disrupted dynamics in the emerald market, which have been triggered by an oversupply of Zambian emeralds at discounted prices during the latter half of 2024

There has been an increase in the rate of access to electricity in urban areas, from 64% to 80%, according to the National Energy Access Baseline Survey's report on the country's households

The Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia says the nation should move on now that the eligibility case of former President Edgar Lungu has been settled with the Constitutional Court ruling Lungu ineligible to contest the 2026 elections

Zambian Barbra Banda, 24, was honoured as the BBC Women's Footballer of the Year 2024, becoming the first Zambian and second African to win this award in 10 years

Distribution of oral cholera vaccines will begin in a few days, targeting the 54 cholera hotspots identified in the country

There is growing concern about cross-border crimes at government level; authorities emphasised that these episodes threaten security not only on the Zambian-DRC border but in the entire Central African region

The Municipality of Lusaka has began free chlorine distribution to households to ensure that residents drink safe and clean water and prevent diarrhea related diseases with the onset of the rainy season

Zambia celebrated the 60th anniversary of its independence from Britain on 24 October 2024; President Hakainde Hichilema in his speech urged the nation to renew commitment to building a prosperous future

African Rivers, a Zambia-based international conservation organisation, has voiced its opposition to plans to cull elephants in southern Africa following the recent severe drought in the region

The government will continue to support capacity-building programmes to strengthen organisations representing people with albinism in order to help them defend their rights

Forecasts for the 2024/2025 rainy season predict normal or above-normal rainfall, with episodic heavy rainfall and flooding in rainfed areas, after the last rainy season was characterised by severe drought

ZESCO, Zambia’s power utility, announced that the critically low water levels of Lake Karina, now at just 8% of usable storage, will force a scale back of electricity generation; the shutdown of Kariba North Bank Power Station is scheduled on 14 September

In a press note, the Zambian government announced a crackdown on the misuse of social media, invoking Sec 54 of the Cyber Security and Cyber Crimes Act No 2/2021 adding it 'will not tolerate any form of online misconduct that threatens peace and security'