The IMF’s chief disclosed on Thursday that Zambia has successfully reached a debt agreement with its foreign creditors, offering much-needed financial respite to the first African nation to default following the Covid-19 pandemic.
In June, Zambia had tentatively reached an agreement with its creditors, encompassing both China and Western nations, on $6.3 billion of its debt, although the finalization of the deal was pending.
At the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in Marrakesh, Morocco, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva announced that a memorandum of understanding with Zambia’s creditors has been officially signed.
During a panel discussion on addressing global debt issues, Kristalina Georgieva revealed this development, alongside Zambian Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane.
“The creditors have been wonderful,” Musokotwane said.
“But that by itself is not enough to provide the kind of life that these young people in Africa want to live,” he said
“What will deliver that? Higher economic growth to create jobs so that we no longer have youth crossing the Sahara, over the Mediterranean.”
