Dissecting the Zambian Debt Crisis and What Role China, Private Creditors Played

One week after Zambia failed to meet a deadline to repay $42.5 million on some of its Eurobond debt, African and international media are examining what went wrong and who precisely is to blame.

In an appearance on Al Jazeera English’s business program Counting the Cost, IHS Markit Senior Africa Analyst, Alicia Strobel, placed full responsibility for what happened on the government’s mismanagement of its public finances.

Meantime, Kenya’s Nation newspaper published a simple, easy to understand explainer article on what led up to the current crisis.

Other African Debt News Updates:

• GHANA: From July to September of this year, Ghana borrowed an additional $1.8 billion, pushing its total debt to $48 billion, according to the latest data from the central bank. The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio is now at 71%, well above the 50% benchmark that economists see as risky for developing countries. (MYJOYONLINE)

• SOUTH AFRICA: Two of the leading credit ratings agencies, Moody’s and Fitch Ratings, lowered the country’s credit ratings on Friday, prompting Finance Minister Tito Mboweni to warn that borrowing costs will now become much higher. But some investors don’t seem too concerned, because they were expecting the downgrade. (BLOOMBERG)

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The post Dissecting the Zambian Debt Crisis and What Role China, Private Creditors Played appeared first on The China Africa Project.

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