Germany and Zambia have maintained amicable diplomatic relations since Zambia gained independence in 1964.

Federal President Steinmeier went on a state visit to Zambia in 2023. That same year, President Hichilema visited Berlin at the invitation of Federal Chancellor Scholz to take part in the G20 Compact with Africa Conference. In 2024, there followed a visit to Zambia by Agriculture Minister Özdemir.

There is potential for expanding trade and economic relations between Germany and Zambia. The German business community’s interest in Zambia is growing, not least due to the good conditions for agriculture and the extensive raw-material deposits in Zambia. In March 2025, Bayer opened a plant in Kabwe producing corn seeds.

Zambia is a partner country of German development cooperation. The main aims are to promote good governance, protect the natural environment and combat poverty and malnutrition. In this way, Germany is supporting Zambia’s ambitious reform agenda. The funding currently deployed serves, for example, to strengthen Zambia’s financial management, protect water resources in the country’s especially dry southern regions and adapt agriculture and food to climate change. Furthermore, Germany is supporting the expansion of renewable energies in Zambia.

Various German NGOs are active in Zambia, many of them supported by the German Government. The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung has an office in Lusaka.

Since August 2024, a language school in the capital has been offering German classes, giving the German labour market new options when it comes to attracting skilled workers from Zambia.