Zambia’s Debt Workout Shifts Back to China After Bondholder Pact
- Nation remains with $3.5 billion in commercial loans to revamp
- Record drought has added urgency to restructuring deal
Traders transport bundles of secondhand clothing at a street market area in Lusaka, Zambia.
Photographer: Luke Dray/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Zambia’s three-plus-year slog to escape default is shifting to $3.5 billion in commercial debt mainly owed to Chinese lenders, after it finally struck a deal with holders of its eurobonds.
Among the loans Zambia still needs to revamp are $1.9 billion borrowed from state-owned creditors in China including Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd. and China Development Bank, according to a person familiar with the situation. Engagement with some of the Chinese creditors has progressed well, the person said.