Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mulambo Haimbe says government has been spending over US$74,500 every year in renting a building housing the African Union Economic, Social and Cultural Council (AU ECOSOCC) Secretariat.

Mr Haimbe says the government has since allocated 10 acres of land in Lusaka for the construction of a permanent structure for the ECOSSOC Secretariat to forestall the cost of renting.

The ECOSSOC Secretariat was relocated to Lusaka in 2019 from the Citizens and Diaspora Directorate office in the African Union Commission.

And Zambia has expressed satisfaction that ECOSSOC has demonstrated increased programme implementation capacity since relocating its secretariat to Lusaka district in 2019.

Mr Haimbe said in his statement to the Executive Council ordinary session of the African Union in Addis Ababa today that ECOSSOC has also attracted substantial interest from international partners who are now offering variable resources.

He further extolled the ECOSSOC Secretariat for introducing the Kenneth Kaunda Graduate Immersion Programme last year, which is aimed at equipping high performing, recent Zambian graduates with practical experience in policy research, project coordination and organisation operations.

The Executive Council ordinary session of the African Union, which opened yesterday at the AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa, has since closed.

The Executive Council ordinary session, acted as a preparatory platform for the 39th Ordinary Session of the heads of state and government of the African Union, which will be held on February 14th and 15th 2026.

President Hakainde Hichilema is expected in Addis Ababa for the same summit.