A Significant Milestone in Zambia’s Journey towards Economic Recovery and Growth

Zambia’s lenders, including its largest creditor China, have agreed to restructure the country’s public debt, offering financial relief to the first African country to fail since the Covid outbreak. The arrangement covers bilateral loans owed by Zambia to other nations, the majority of which is owed to China $4.1 billion, according to insiders the lending procedure had been “difficult”. It is not possible to restructure a portion of Zambia’s external debt, which is owned by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and multilateral development institutions. The entire amount of debt due by the nation is $32.8 billion, $18.6 billion of which is owing to foreign creditors. With a population of close to 20 million, Zambia is the largest copper producer in Africa. In 2020, however, Zambia defaulted on its $18.6 billion foreign debt after discussions stalled due to disagreements between Chinese and Western creditors.

BUSINESS INSIDER