Zambia

Name: Zambia
Address: ZM

Zambia has an adopted AI strategy and a 2021 law that requires personal data to be stored on servers inside the country, but its hydropower grid was constrained by drought in 2024.

Zambia's National AI Strategy covers 2025 to 2027 and was launched in Lusaka on 22 November 2024. The Data Protection Act 2021 requires personal data to be processed and stored on a server or data centre in Zambia unless the Minister prescribes exceptions, with stricter treatment of sensitive data. Cabinet approved in April 2025 a bill to repeal that Act and widen coverage to non-personal data and AI. A national AI data centre MoU with Huawei was announced on 28 May 2026. Power is about 85 per cent hydro and 2024 drought cut Kariba output sharply.

AI policy and activity

National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025 to 2027, led by the Ministry of Technology and Science, with a National AI Council. The strategy lists digital infrastructure and data ecosystem expansion as a pillar; coverage read names no specific compute project.

Power and grid

Reported (May 2024). About 85 per cent of 3,777 MW installed capacity was hydro; drought cut Kariba output from 1,080 MW to 166 MW and load shedding rose to 12 hours a day. Current 2026 grid position not sourced. No national supercomputing programme found.

Data centres and compute

Data centres and compute
Site	Where	Status	Notes and source
National AI Data Centre (MoU) SMART Zambia with Huawei	Zambia	Planned	Reported. MoU announced 28 May 2026 at the Zambia Mobile Congress. No site, capacity or date given. Includes a training target of 5,000 ICT professionals by 2028. (source)
Liquid Intelligent Technologies data centre (MoU) Liquid Intelligent Technologies	Zambia	Planned	Reported. MoU with the government for a new data centre; article gives no date, site or capacity. (source)
Zambia national data centre Huawei Technologies Zambia for the government	Lusaka, with backup sites in Roma and Kitwe	Operating	Reported, from a February 2017 article that said it was ready to launch. Tier III design, 75 million dollar facility under the Smart Zambia programme. Current status not confirmed. (source)

Rules and programmes

Rules and programmes
Instrument	Kind	Status	What it does
Data Protection Act No. 3 of 2021 Read the cited source	Law	In force	Primary. Legislation text read on ZambiaLII. Section 70 requires processing and storage on a server or data centre in Zambia, with ministerial exceptions. Section 71 sets conditions for transfers abroad. Commencement is by ministerial statutory instrument and the page gives no date. Cabinet approved a repeal bill in April 2025 (Reported, Zambia Monitor); we found no confirmation it was enacted.
National AI Strategy 2025 to 2027 Read the cited source	Policy	In force from 22 November 2024	Reported. OECD.AI policy navigator entry, status active. Launch date from Zambia Monitor. Developed with support from Finland and the Tony Blair Institute.
Cabinet approval of bill to repeal the Data Protection Act Read the cited source	Law	Proposed	Reported. Approved 24 April 2025 to cover non-personal, industrial and public data and technologies such as AI. Outcome not confirmed.

Official research-access information

ZAMREN services information · Institutional source. Ordinary unframed institutional links only; no source content reproduced. These links do not establish a free or funded programme. Eligibility, charges, funding, hardware, deadlines and current availability are not verified here. No endorsement or open source-content licence is implied. Link checked 15 October 2026; next link review by 22 October 2026. This does not refresh the other country fields.

Checked on 3 October 2026 and due for review by 1 January 2027. Many sources are trade press or law-firm summaries rather than official texts, and statuses such as reported or unconfirmed are shown as the source gives them. This is a summary, not legal advice. If something is wrong or out of date, tell us.

Cite this page

ComputeFinder. (2026, October 3). Zambia: AI and compute. ComputeFinder. Retrieved November 14, 2026, from https://computefinder.net/countries/zambia

BibTeX

@misc{computefinder_countries_zambia,
  title        = {Zambia: AI and compute},
  author       = {{ComputeFinder}},
  year         = {2026},
  howpublished = {\url{https://computefinder.net/entity/cf-ctry-0074}},
  number       = {cf-ctry-0074},
  note         = {Page last checked 3 October 2026. Retrieved 14 November 2026.}
}

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Page link: https://computefinder.net/countries/zambia. Page last checked 3 October 2026. Retrieved 14 November 2026. Cite the provider or the primary source for any fact you rely on.

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