Zambia’s National AI Strategy: what it means for employers

Zambia's National AI Strategy expects every workforce, not only IT teams, to build AI skills: its human capital pillar calls for continuous professional development and AI literacy. For employers, that means training staff to use AI on their work, within Zambia's data protection rules.

Zambia is one of a small number of African countries with a national AI strategy. The Ministry of Technology and Science launched it in Lusaka, and Minister Felix Mutati described its aim as driving the digital transformation of the economy by creating wealth and jobs.

Most summaries stop at the headline. This one is for employers: what the strategy actually sets out, and what it means for how you prepare your staff.

The six pillars

According to the analysis by Strathmore University's Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT), the strategy is built on six pillars:

1. Policy and regulation. A national AI policy, a proposed National AI Council for oversight, and work with regulators such as ZICTA.
2. Human capital development. AI competencies at every level of education and industry, continuous professional development, and AI literacy campaigns for citizens.
3. Infrastructure and data ecosystems. Broadband, cloud and computing capacity, and national data repositories for secure data sharing.
4. Research and innovation. Partnerships between universities, companies and government, and an Emerging Technologies Centre of Excellence.
5. Industry and sectoral development. AI in healthcare, agriculture, mining, education and finance, starting with pilot projects.
6. International collaboration. Partnerships with research institutions, companies and development agencies abroad.

The part that matters most to employers

The second pillar is about people. It calls for continuous professional development and AI literacy, not only AI degrees. In practice, government is signalling that every workforce, not just the IT department, is expected to learn to use AI.

The strategy also puts data protection at its centre. It aligns with Zambia's existing data protection laws and gives the Data Commissioner's Office a key role in compliance. For employers, that means AI training has to include what staff must not put into AI tools, alongside what they can.

What the numbers say about readiness

The gap between ambition and access is real. DataReportal's Digital 2026 report counts 23.5 million mobile connections in Zambia, equal to 106% of the population, but only 7.29 million internet users, or 33% of people. In an office, that usually means staff have smartphones but uneven data.

Two consequences for training:

• Train on phones. Laptops are not a given, and the tools people will actually use sit on their phones.
• Plan for patchy connections. Sessions that depend on a perfect connection fail in half the rooms they run in.

What to do now

You don't need to wait for the National AI Council to start. The strategy's direction is clear: every employer will be expected to raise its staff's AI literacy, and to do it within the data protection rules.

A sensible first step is small: one team, one afternoon, on their real tasks, with the data rules taught first. That is how our AI training works, from K3,500 for up to 15 staff. You can see whether it changes anything before committing more.