Zambia’s Public Debt “an unsettling fiscal challenge”, Faith, Civil Leaders Say

The JCTR Executive Director calls on the Zambian government "to double its effort aimed at consolidating all the support that this process requires from all key stakeholders including the general citizenry." 

The landlocked Southern Africa nation owes $27 billion, inclusive of interest arrears, to foreign and local creditors. 

The debt includes $16.86 billion in foreign holdings, of which $520 million is interest arrears. 

In the May 10 message, CSO Debt Alliance chairperson calls on the nation’s lenders to “come on board and participate in the restructuring of Zambia's debt."

“We cannot overemphasize the dire need for transparency and consistent engagement throughout this process,” the member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) says. 

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“In this spirit we call upon the IMF, World Bank and Government of Zambia to consider a swift publication of the recently concluded Debt Sustainability Analysis," he says, adding that CSO Alliance members are "thrilled" with news of the conclusion of the DSA. 

Fr. Muyebe further says that the DSA "is key in informing public and policy discourse on its estimated extend of the problem and prescription of the relief, not only among creditors but also among the general citizenry who are the primary subject of any economic reforms consequent to this process."

“The DSA forms a significant prelude to the debt restructuring process that will, in a broad sense, pave the way for the rebuilding of the economy which Zambia desperately but evidently needs to embark on," the Jesuit Priest says. 

In February, members of the CSO Debt Alliance urged those who lend Zambia money to consider cancelling the loans. 

Members of the alliance said the loans given by private entities and other governments "at high interest rates" plunged Zambia into a “debt crisis.”

They added that cancelling the debts would benefit Zambians by allowing the Southern African nation to deal with other multiple external crises.

Magdalene Kahiu is a Kenyan journalist with passion in Church communication. She holds a Degree in Social Communications from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA). Currently, she works as a journalist for ACI Africa.