Bangladesh, Oct. 26 -- Zambias economic crisis reveals how excessive borrowing, weak financial oversight and environmental disasters can combine to undermine a nations development. Chinese financing helped the southern African country expand its infrastructure, but mounting debt and financial difficulties at its state-owned electricity company left the economy vulnerable. When a severe drought triggered widespread power shortages, small businesses, farmers and ordinary households suffered the consequences.

Kanangwa Newlove, an organic farmer outside Lusaka, experienced this crisis firsthand. In October 2025, she watched her vegetables wither under the heat. Without reliable electricity to operate borehole pumps, she struggled to irrigate...