You Can’t Share Poverty

About the book

In You Can’t Share Poverty, Zambian president Hakainde Hichilema delivers a clear-eyed account of what it takes to turn around a struggling economy and restore trust in government. Part political memoir, part reform playbook, this is a book about leadership under pressure – and the real-world consequences of policy decisions.

Hichilema traces Zambia’s journey from post-independence optimism through decades of state control, economic decline and rising debt, to the moment his administration took office in 2021 facing near bankruptcy. Drawing on his own experience – from rural beginnings and a career in business to repeated electoral defeats, imprisonment, and eventual victory in 2021 – he reflects on the challenges of rebuilding trust, restoring economic...