Ambassador Chibamba Kanyama’s Biography

Chibamba Kanyama (born 26 January 1965) is a Zambian business leader and writer, specialising in communication strategy, corporate governance and economics.

Early life and education

Kanyama was born in Chikankata district, in the Southern Province of Zambia. He attended Chikankata Mission school for his secondary education. He then studied at the University of Zambia from 1985 to 1989, where he received a BA in Mass communication with economics. Kanyama later received an MSc in Development Finance from the University of Reading in 2001 on a Chevening Scholarship. In early 2024, Kanyama successfully defended his research for a Ph.D in Management with the Texila American University.

Business career

Kanyama began working at Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) in 1989, where he rose to the position of Executive Producer. He later worked as Director at C K Media Agency between 1996 and 1998, Broadcasting manager at Zambia Institute of Mass Communication in 1999 and Corporate Affairs and Marketing Director at Zambia State Insurance Corporation in 2002. Among the key tasks was to serve as team leader tasked with the splitting of the Company into three separate legal entities: ZSIC Holding Company; ZSICLIFE and ZSICGI. He also served as Director of Corporate Affairs at Zambian Breweries Plc (a subsidiary of SABMiller PLC) in 2008. He also managed the communications for Coca-Cola in Zambia. In 2012, he was appointed Director General of the Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation.

In 2014 Kanyama took up an appointment at the International Monetary Fund (Washington DC) as Communications Advisor, where he oversaw the publication of the first ever IMF Global Opinion Survey. After returning to Zambia early 2017, he founded Bridges Limited, a consultancy firm specializing in institutional capacity building, corporate strategy advisory services and corporate governance consultancy.

On 10th March, 2023, Chibamba Kanyama was appointed Ambassador-Designate to the United States of America by His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zambia Mr. Hakainde Hichilema. On 30th June, 2023, he presented his credentials to President Joe Biden in the White House Oval Office and was there upon confirmed as Ambassador to the United States of America.

Other contributions

Since 2004 Kanyama has been the business columnist for The Post Newspapers.
In 2011 he was appointed UNICEF Ambassador for the ‘Brothers for Life Campaign’ focusing on youth behaviours related to alcohol and substance abuse, violence, sexual abstenance and health living. He was also among three Zambians appointed Climate Change Ambassadors by the British Council in 2010. In 2008, Kanyama initiated "Creating the Future", the first ever business conference for teenagers in Zambia. An average 4,500 young people attended the two conferences. He mobilised over US$40,000 for each period from the business community and international donor organizations such as the European Union. The initiative has since been registered as a trust, Teen Vision Trust Zambia.

Personal life

Chibamba is married to Eneless and has four children: Victor-Amedzo, Chisaya, Mutinta-Telma and Chibamba-Malele.

Books and publications

• "Business Values for Our Time", Bridges Communications, 2010.
• "Achievement Values for Young Adults".
• "Determinants of FDI in Sub-Saharan Africa- Risks and Opportunities", Lambert Academic Publishing, 2012).
• “Business Value for Our Time -Expanded Edition” 2023.
• “Dismantling the Invisible Hand: An assessment of influences that undermine the independence of public sector boards in Zambia.” 2024 (Ph.D Thesis- Texila American University).
• “Strategic change approaches for managing decentralization: Case of Government of the Republic of Zambia.” 2024 (Texila American University).
• “Impact of culture change interventions for employee engagement and productivity.” 2024 (Texila American University).

Fellowships

• Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Customer Management
• Fellow of the Institute of Directors - Zambia and Trainer of Trainers in Corporate Governance
• Fellow of the Zambia Institute of Public Relations and Communication