EXPLAINER | 2025 Final Cabinet Decisions: Key You Must Know
Zambia’s Cabinet has published its final decisions for 2025, closing the year with a wide range of policy and legislative moves that will shape the economy, energy supply, social protection, and governance landscape as the country heads into a politically sensitive election year.
The meeting, held on Tuesday, 23rd December 2025 and chaired by President Hakainde Hichilema at State House, focused on measures aimed at stabilising fuel supply, strengthening energy governance, responding to food insecurity, and aligning regulatory frameworks with the 2026 national budget.
While some decisions are structural and long term, others have immediate implications for households, farmers, and markets.
At the centre of public interest is Cabinet’s approval of a pilot programme for the bulk importation of petroleum.
Under the decision, government will pilot bulk fuel importation for a period of four months using a limited bidding process. Demand will be aggregated across multiple oil marketing companies, allowing the selected supplier to negotiate better international purchase terms, reduce per unit import costs, and streamline logistics and storage. Cabinet argues that economies of scale created by this approach could lead to lower pump prices, improved fuel security, and more efficient use of existing fuel depots.
In practice, the impact will depend on how savings are passed through the supply chain. While bulk procurement can lower landing costs, pump prices are also influenced by taxes, exchange rates, transport, and regulatory charges. The pilot nature of the programme suggests government is testing feasibility rather than guaranteeing immediate relief.
Transparency in procurement and pricing will be critical, especially in an election year where fuel costs are politically sensitive.
Closely linked to energy policy, Cabinet also approved the creation of the Constituency Energy Benefit Trust. The Trust will provide a legal and governance framework for equity held by the Minister of Finance in the Zambia National Energy Corporation on behalf of constituencies.
The intention is to allow constituencies to benefit from returns generated through energy investments implemented under the Presidential Constituency Energy Initiative.
If properly governed, the Trust could create a new model of local benefit sharing from national energy projects. However, the absence of detailed disclosure on dividend flows, oversight mechanisms, and distribution criteria leaves questions about how benefits will be realised at constituency level.
On the social policy front, Cabinet approved the Revised National Health Policy and its 2025 to 2029 implementation plan. The document acknowledges progress in health systems strengthening but also concedes persistent gaps affecting women, children, adolescents, and other vulnerable groups. Government says the revised policy will improve service delivery, expand universal health coverage, and improve health outcomes.
The success of the policy will hinge less on approval and more on funding, staffing, and execution. In past cycles, policy ambition has often outpaced implementation capacity.
Cabinet also moved on labour and governance matters by approving the ratification of the International Labour Organisation Protocol on Forced Labour. The protocol strengthens prevention measures, protection of victims, labour inspection, and enforcement across sectors where forced labour risks persist.
This decision aligns Zambia with international labour standards and may affect industries with complex supply chains, though enforcement remains the key test..
In the area of food security and disaster management, Cabinet agreed to urgently clear outstanding payments owed to farmers who supplied maize to the Food Reserve Agency. Government also approved a cash based disaster transfer programme targeting households in 42 districts classified as food insecure in the 2025 vulnerability assessment.
The intervention will run through the lean season from October 2025 to March 2026, alongside community maize sales by the Food Reserve Agency.
These decisions come at a time of heightened sensitivity around farmer payments, rural livelihoods, and food availability. Clearing arrears could restore confidence among small scale farmers ahead of the next planting cycle, while cash transfers offer flexibility to affected households, provided targeting and monitoring are effective.
Cabinet further approved regulatory measures tied to long term economic management. These include the Competitive Procurement Framework for Private Sector Investment in Renewable Energy, intended to standardise project selection and financing, as well as new Carbon Market Regulations to operationalise the Green Economy and Climate Change Act. Together, these measures aim to attract private investment, improve investor confidence, and formalise benefit sharing in climate related projects.
Additional decisions included approval of amendments to citizenship regulations to align fees with the 2026 budget, the declaration of fisheries reserves to protect declining fish stocks, and endorsement in principle of the Securities Bill, 2025, which will repeal the existing law and strengthen capital market regulation.
Taken together, the final Cabinet meeting of 2025 reflects a government seeking to balance immediate economic pressures with longer term structural reforms. Fuel procurement, food security, and energy governance stand out as the most politically consequential decisions as Zambia enters an election year where cost of living, service delivery, and trust in institutions will remain central to public debate.
For citizens, the implications will be felt not in policy statements, but in prices at the pump, payments to farmers, reliability of energy supply, and the credibility of implementation in the months ahead.
© The People’s Brief | Francine Lilu & Goran Handya