A US$1.6 billion second act in Chilanga: Hichilema breaks ground on the UCF urea expansion and warns officials who slow projects that he will be ‘ruthless’

On Tuesday 20 October President Hakainde Hichilema turned the first soil for the second phase of United Capital Fertilizer’s plant at Chilanga, south of Lusaka. The expansion is valued at US$1.6 billion, according to Open Zambia, the Zambian Observer and Lusaka Times, and will add ammonia and urea capacity — Lusaka Times also lists ammonium nitrate — to a complex the company says already employs 7,400 people directly. The target after the expansion is 10,000 direct jobs, a figure the President used in his speech, with thousands more indirect jobs for transporters, dealers and traders.

Open Zambia and the Zambian Observer report the claim that the completed plant would be the second-largest fertiliser facility in Africa. Lusaka Times reports that UCF has pledged to invest up to US$5 billion in Zambia by 2030 and that the President expects that target to be met early. Chinese ambassador Han Jing, quoted by Lusaka Times, put total investment in the wider industrial park at more than US$3 billion and said the park already provides over 10,000 jobs, and that the first phase has begun trial production.

Fertiliser and the maize target

The President tied the plant to the Government’s production targets — 10 million tonnes of maize, three million tonnes of soya beans and one million tonnes each of wheat and sugar, as the Zambian Observer records them. He argued that none of those targets is reachable without affordable fertiliser made in Zambia, and that domestic production of D compound and urea would cut import dependence, lower input costs and earn foreign exchange, with UCF already a net exporter to the region, Open Zambia reports.

None of this is achievable without a reliable supply of affordable fertiliser, made in Zambia.
— President Hakainde Hichilema, at the UCF groundbreaking in Chilanga on Tuesday 20 October, as reported by the Zambian Observer

The warning to public officers

Zambia Monitor reports that the President used the same platform to attack administrative delay. He said approvals for projects and investments that drag on for months or years cost jobs, that he did not need the popularity of “5,000 people” but had to satisfy 21 million Zambians, and that “this president in this second term will be ruthless about these issues”. He urged citizens to “shout” when they see public officers delaying projects. Zambia Monitor notes that he named no specific officials or projects, and no response from the civil service had been reported.

Lusaka Times, whose report was published on the morning of Wednesday 21 October and describes the ceremony as taking place that day, also quotes the President praising UCF’s recycling of groundwater as a model for industry under climate change, and the ambassador calling the groundbreaking “tangible proof of commitments taking root”. Zambia Monitor and the Zambian Observer both date the ceremony to Tuesday 20 October, which is the date used here.

Sources: Zambia Monitor, “Hichilema vows to be ruthless against officials frustrating execution of govt projects” (20 Oct 2026); Open Zambia, “Hichilema Launches US$1.6 Billion Fertiliser Plant Expansion in Chilanga” (20 Oct 2026); Zambian Observer, “Zambia Breaks Ground on US$1.6 Billion Fertiliser Plant Expansion, Targets 10,000 Jobs” (21 Oct 2026); Lusaka Times, “Phase 2 Urea Plant To Boost Local Fertiliser Production – President Hichilema” (21 Oct 2026).