ZAMBIA'S new president can expect a congratulatory gift of jam from the Lanarkshire firm that was founded by his great-grandfather in the 1880s.

Dr Guy Scott this week became the first white leader of an African country since the days of apartheid in South Africa when he was appointed acting president.

The R&W Scott jam company, based in Carluke, was set up by Dr Scott's ancestors long before his father, Alec, left Scotland for what was then northern Rhodesia in 1927 and became an ally of Zambian nationalists and a founder of anti-colonial newspapers.

The 70-year-old, who had been vice-president and took the top job in the central African country after the death of president Michael Sata on Tuesday, visited the jamworks in July while he was in Scotland for the Commonwealth Games.

R&W Scott's present managing director, John Easton, said: "He was terrific when he visited, knowledgeable about the business and very proud of his Scottish roots. He wanted to explore his family history and he spent a lot of time telling us about the company's founders. Our heritage is very important to our business and we want to keep in touch. Maybe we'll congratulate him by sending him some of our new products."

The Scott family, which is well known in the Carluke area, ran the company for generations before it was sold in the 1980s. It is now part of the Real Good Food Group.

Dr Scott, who was born in the Zambian city of Livingstone and educated at Cambridge University, will remain president of Zambia for 90 days before new elections are held. He has said he has no ambitions of taking the top job permanently, while rules state he could not take the presidency permanently anyway as his parents were born abroad.