The International Monetary Fund’s board on Wednesday approved an immediate $187 million loan payout to Zambia and said the country was revising a restructuring proposal for $3 billion of bonds that official creditors had rejected last month. It will be the third payout under the southern African country’s $1.3 billion Extended Credit Facility arrangement approved in August 2022. One of the African continent’s largest copper producers, Zambia defaulted on its debts three years ago during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its restructuring efforts have been beset by delays. Read more: Reuters
Beijing’s standoff with global bond investors over $3 billion of Zambian debt is damping the African nation’s efforts to come out of default, and challenging the effectiveness of the International Monetary Fund-backed blueprint on sovereign restructurings for poor countries. The fund’s executive board on Wednesday approved an $187 million disbursement to Zambia, after saying earlier this month that the government is making progress and good faith efforts toward reaching a deal with private creditors. Read more: Bloomberg
A stakeholder consultative meeting to discuss the content of government’s proposed strategy for the actualisation of the three million tonnes of copper in a decade has been held in Lusaka. The meeting, held on Tuesday and organised by the Policy Monitoring and Research Centre (PMRC), brought together experts in the mining sector, small and large mining corporations as well as civil society organisations. PMRC Executive Director, Sydney Mwamba, pointed out that the meeting came at a time when the world as well as the Zambian economy, mining industry in particular, were broadly confronted with major economic challenges. Read more: Zambia Monitor
Switzerland has launched its development programme dubbed for Zambia valued at US$50 million. In launching the Swiss Cooperation Programme, Switzerland Ambassador to Zambia Stéphane Rey, stated that this is a significant moment that marks a new chapter in the shared commitment to progress, innovation and positive change especially in the area of green economy. Mr. Rey noted that the development programme is designed to tackle areas that are critical to the wellbeing and progress of society, focusing on food security, access to health, social protection, climate change, and governance. “The new programme is designed to facilitate convergence of public and private sectors through pooling of diverse expertise and resources to create solutions,” Mr. Rey stated. Read more: Money FM
WWF’s Sustainable Financial Regulation and Central Bank Activities (SUSREG) assessment Report for 2023 has revealed that Zambia has no regulations or supervisory expectations in place on climate and environment-related risk management for banks and insurers. According to the Report, a staggering 68% of all high-income countries have not adopted adequate climate and environmental banking supervision policies, translating into four out of five world’s wealthiest countries, while nine out of 45 central banks have shown commendable progress in integrating climate risks into their monetary policy and central banking activities. And reacting to the findings, WWF Zambia Country Director Nachilala Nkombo stated that addressing this gap could be crucial for fostering sustainability in the financial sector in Zambia, adding that the organization is a key stakeholder, expert and solution provider contributing to the greening financial regulation political debate. Read more: Money FM
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