This article describes India's development partnership with Zambia: lines of credit, grants and humanitarian assistance, the Pan-Africa E-network, and cooperation in health, cooperatives and geology. It is based on the MEA bilateral brief of August 2026.

Overview

According to the MEA brief of August 2026, Zambia has considerably benefited from India's development cooperation programme. The brief lists EXIM Bank credits, railway wagons, flood and drought relief grants and assistance, and lines of credit among the forms this has taken. Scholarships and training are covered in the culture, education and exchanges article of this guide.

During President Mwanawasa's visit to India in April 2003, further assistance was provided and India waived off inter-governmental credit amounting to about $3 mn.

Lines of credit

India provided a Line of Credit (LoC) of US$ 10 million in 2003 for general purposes, including the purchase of TATA buses, motor vehicles, motor cycles and vocational tool kits.

India extended an LoC of US$ 50 million for the 120 MW Itezhi Tezhi Hydropower Project (ITHP), a joint venture of Zambia's State Power utility ZESCO and TATA Power of India. The project was commissioned in March 2016. Of the LoC of US$ 50 million, the Zambian side utilised US$ 29 million.

The construction of 650 rural pre-fabricated health posts was announced in 2011, and an LOC of US$ 50 million for it was signed in 2013. Construction began in 2014, and an additional LOC of US$ 18 million was approved in 2017 to complete the project. Of the LoC of US$ 68 million, Zambia had utilised about US$ 60 million. As of the brief, 563 health posts have been completed and are operational.

Pan-Africa E-network

The Pan-Africa E-network Project was implemented at three sites in Zambia in 2009:

  • a VVIP Centre for Video Conferencing at the State House, Lusaka
  • a Patient End Location at the UTH, Lusaka
  • a Learning Centre for tele-education at the Mulungushi University in Kabwe

Grants and humanitarian assistance

The brief records the following grants and humanitarian assistance:

  • December 2019: medicines worth US$ 2 million handed over to the Ministry of Health, fulfilling an announcement by the President of India during his State visit in April 2018
  • May 2020: essential medicines, including HCQ, weighing 6000 kgs, to support Zambia's fight against the COVID-19 pandemic
  • October 2020: 1000 MT of non-Basmati rice, as announced by the Prime Minister during President Lungu's visit to India in August 2019
  • February 2024: humanitarian assistance of approx. 3.5 tonnes of chlorine tablets and ORS sachets, to help Zambia fight cholera
  • December 2024: 2500 MT of maize to help Zambia in its fight against drought
  • April 2025: medical equipment worth US$ 1 million handed over to the Ministry of Health
  • 14 October 2025: 500 sewing machines and 100 embroidery machines

The medical equipment handed over in April 2025 was installed by Indian technicians at 24 locations across all 10 provinces of Zambia, and basic training to operate it was given to Zambian professionals. The sewing and embroidery machines were aimed at empowering women and youth by supporting skills development and sustainable livelihoods.

Health cooperation

Health was among the areas covered by the seven MoUs signed during President Lungu's State visit in 2019. The First India-Zambia Joint Working Group on Health was held in virtual mode on 23rd July 2025.

Cooperatives

On July 18, 2025, India and Zambia signed an MoU on Promotion of Cooperatives.

Agriculture and defence

Agriculture Minister Mr. Reuben Mtolo Phiri visited India for the Global Millets Conference in New Delhi in March 2023 and met Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Defence was among the areas covered by the MoUs signed in 2019. Defence Minister Mr. Ambrose Lwiji Lufuma visited India twice, for Aero India 2023 and Aero India 2025 in Bengaluru, and held a bilateral meeting with Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh.

Geology and mineral resources

Under the MoU for cooperation in the field of Geology and Mineral Resources, a delegation from the Geological Survey of India (GSI) visited the Kasempa region on a recce from 25-29 June, 2025. Two more delegations then visited from 14 September to 31 October 2025 to explore sites provided by the Zambian side.