Ex-Zambian head named BU’s President in Residence
BOSTON (AP) – Former Zambian President Rupiah Banda has accepted an appointment as the African President-in-Residence at Boston University.
The 75-year-old Banda served as Zambia’s ambassador to the U.S., then vice president under President Levy Mwanawasa (LEH’-vee wah-nah-WAH’-sah), taking over as acting president in June 2008 when Mwanawasa died after a stroke.
He was elected president in October 2008, oversaw notable national growth rates during his tenure with GDP peaking at 7.6 percent in 2010, and was narrowly defeated for reelection in September 2011.
Center director Charles Stith says there is much to learn from Banda’s experience pulling Zambia out of the global recession.
The President-in-Residence program enables a democratically elected former African leader to spend up to two years at BU sharing insights on contemporary trends in Africa.
Banda is the program’s eighth president.
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