debt restructuring - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

By MAXWELL AKALAARE ADOMBILA and CHRISTIAN AKORLIE

Ghana seeks to speed up debt restructuring negotiations

GHANA wants to speed up remaining debt restructuring negotiations, its finance minister said, as the government pushes for a deal to rework over $13 billion of international bonds. The West African country has been overhauling its debts as it tries to emerge from its worst economic crisis in a generation with the help of a $3 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme. The government reached a deal in principle in January to restructure $5.4 billion of loans with official creditors. It has since started formal talks with one bondholder group under non-disclosure agreements, Reuters reported about two weeks ago, citing sources familiar…

Feb

2024

By CHRIS MFULA

Zambian officials held debt talks with Chinese banks last week

BUSINESS

ZAMBIAN officials went to China last week to discuss debt restructuring with representatives of the Export-Import Bank (EXIM) of China and some Chinese commercial banks, the secretary to Zambia's Treasury said. Felix Nkulukusa said Zambia was on course to reach a new agreement after its official creditors, including China EXIM, rejected a preliminary restructuring deal for its Eurobonds in November. Zambia defaulted on its sovereign debt in 2020 and its debt restructuring under the G20's Common Framework process has been beset by delays. Under the framework, debtor countries are meant to agree on comparable restructuring deals with official and commercial…

Jan

2024

By KANISHKA SINGH

US Treasury official discusses cholera outbreak, debt with Zambia minister

HEALTH

THE U.S. Treasury Department's top international official spoke with Zambia's finance minister and discussed Zambia's ongoing debt restructuring and its response to a recent cholera outbreak, the U.S. Treasury Department said. Zambia faces a major cholera outbreak that has killed at least 333 people since October, with over 8,000 cumulative cholera cases during this period, according to the website of the U.S. Embassy in Zambia. U.S. Treasury Under Secretary for International Affairs Jay Shambaugh reiterated the U.S. government's "commitment to partner with Zambia" to end the outbreak when he spoke to Zambian Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane, according to the Treasury…

Nov

2023

By KARIN STROHECKER

Zambia debt rework delaying impede key investments, hitting the ‘most vulnerable’ – FinMin

BUSINESS

LONG delays in Zambia's debt restructuring have hamstrung much-needed investments, curtailed economic growth, weighed on local financial markets and added to living costs for its people, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane told Reuters. Zambia defaulted three years ago and is trying to rework its debt under the G20 Common Framework, a programme designed to ensure swift and smooth debt overhauls for low-income nations. But the process has been beset by delays, with Zambia suffering a major setback on Monday when official creditors rejected a preliminary deal agreed between the country and its bondholders to rework $3 billion over objections on whether it offered…

Oct

2023

By JORGELINA DO ROSARIO and KARIN STROHECKER

Zambia, bondholders kick off formal talks on $3 billion debt restructuring, sources say

BUSINESS

ZAMBIA'S international bondholders have formally started debt talks with the government this week, according to three sources, a key step to restructure more than $3 billion of overseas bonds. A group of the country's biggest private creditors has entered into a restricted period, which means they temporarily cannot trade the country's notes in exchange for non-public information, the sources added, asking not to be named because the discussions were private. The non-disclosure agreements(NDA) would be still in place next week, one of the sources added when Zambia officials and creditors are set to meet in person during the World Bank…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Zambia criticises debt restructuring delays – FT

BUSINESS

ZAMBIA'S finance minister criticised the prolonged nature of the country's debt restructuring talks, the Financial Times reported, after a Chinese call for the World Bank and other multilateral lenders to offer debt relief sparked concern about further delays. In an interview with the newspaper, Situmbeko Musokotwane said that "time is of the essence" to finish a restructuring of about $13 billion of external debt this year. Multilateral lenders, who don't usually take haircuts, should participate in debt relief for Zambia, a Chinese foreign ministry official said last month. This insistence was one of the main sticking points in talks, a…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

S&P joins Fitch in downgrade of Ethiopia on potential debt restructuring

BUSINESS

S&P Global Ratings on Friday downgraded Ethiopia’s long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings to ‘B-’ from ‘B’ on potential debt restructuring, announcing the move days after Fitch Ratings downgraded the country. “Exacerbated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ethiopia’s structurally weak external balance sheet has deteriorated further, in our view”, S&P Global Ratings said. On Tuesday, Ethiopia’s sovereign dollar bonds dropped nearly 2 cents as Fitch chopped Ethiopia’s credit score by two notches after Addis Ababa signalled it could be the first with an international government bond to use a new G20 ‘Common Framework’ plan. The scheme,…