Zambia held its 2026 general elections on Thursday, with about 8.7 million registered voters casting ballots for president, National Assembly members and local representatives.
Polling stations across the country opened at 06:00 local time (0400 GMT).
Incumbent President Hakainde Hichilema, the presidential candidate of the ruling United Party for National Development, is facing competition from other candidates, including Brian Mundubile, who leads the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity.
According to the Electoral Commission of Zambia, a presidential candidate must secure more than 50 percent of valid votes to win. Otherwise, a runoff will be held.
The elections cover 226 constituencies and 1,858 wards, with the polling set to close at 18:00 local time (1600 GMT).
Zambia holds general elections
AI governance, open-source development and digital cooperation are taking center stage at the ongoing 2026 World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit, which opened on Tuesday in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province.
Held under the theme "Open Source and Openness, Joint Contribution and Shared Benefits -- Jointly Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace," the summit has brought together global participants as AI reshapes industries and economies, prompting debate over the rules and cooperation needed to guide AI development.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote address. He called for a people-centered approach to internet development, while stressing open innovation, digital security and the sharing of digital dividends.
"This requires robust, multi-stakeholder internet governance to ensure a global digital ecosystem that is safe, secure, and fundamentally designed to serve all nations and drive global development," said Li Junhua, U.N. under-secretary-general for economic and social affairs, in his speech at the event.
Joe Tsai, co-founder and chairman of Chinese multinational conglomerate Alibaba Group, said open-source models could broaden access to AI.
"Open-source models can foster a global developer ecosystem, cut R and D costs for small and medium-sized enterprises, and bring particular value to less widely spoken languages and developing countries. They also allow developers in emerging economies to build local AI applications and innovation ecosystems without starting from scratch," he said.
Nii Narku Quaynor, chairman of Ghana Dot Com and an Internet Hall of Fame inductee, stressed the importance of inclusion.
"Openness is a simple word, but it carries a powerful message about how we develop technology, share knowledge, and shape our common future in cyberspace. We highlight three dimensions of openness: open documents, open standards, and meaningful participation, particularly from Africa and the Global South," he said.
The summit will run until Thursday.
2026 WIC Wuzhen Summit puts AI governance, digital cooperation in focus
