Africa’s second largest red metal hotspot, Zambia, could see the exchange of dollar bonds as early as end of May to replace the 2022, 2024 and 2027 defaulted assets. Speaking at a public lecture held at the Copperbelt University organised by the USAID, Secretary to the Treasury Felix Nkulukusa informed the audience that all things constant, the Southern African nation could see new dollar bonds trading as as early as end of May. “Of the $13.34 billion, we owe bilateral creditors an estimate of $6.3 billion (17 of them), about $3.84 billion to euro bondholders and other private creditors an…
Author: The Editor
Washington based lender the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has halved Africa’s copper producer Zambia’s growth forecast to 2.3% on account of drought effects. This was contained in an End -of – Mission press release that shares preliminary findings following a two week visit to the Southern African nation. Earlier at the World Bank IMF spring meetings growth forecast was pegged at 4.3% from 4.7% set at the start of the year. The Vera Martin led team visited Lusaka the capital from 24th April to 07th May as part of the third review under the Extended Credit Facility. “Growth in 2024…
Africa’s red metal producer and the first nation to set the pace for complex debt restructure under the G20 common framework Zambia, will have its sophomore rate decision announcement on Wednesday 15th May. Last monetary committee session saw the central bank raise the benchmark interest rate 150 basis points to 12.5%. This exactly 9 days after the cash reserve ratio hike of 9% to 26% was effected. This was the second highest seen in Zambia’s history with the highest being 31% in 1995 when the red metal producer was on an International Monetary Fund structural adjustment program. This sterilization measure…
In this series of the Kwacha Arbitrageur credit note, we focus on the recent landmark dollar bond restructure proposal for Zambia and the associated expected foreign currency issuer rating upgrade. In the week leading to the Easter festivities, the authorities in the Southern African nation announced a breakthrough with the bondholders’ steering committee on the reorganization of $3.05 billion worth of outstanding eurobonds, which constituted a significant portion of private debt. Successfully restructuring these obligations means that Zambia would have addressed 77% of its debt, leaving $3.4 billion in non-bondholder private debt owed to the Chinese and others pending. The…
As Easter approaches, Zambia, Africa’s second-largest copper producer, achieves a significant milestone with news of the restructuring of its dollar bonds. In principle, Zambia has agreed with the bondholder committee to issue two new bonds maturing in 2033 ($1.7 billion) and 2053 ($1.35 billion), effectively reorganizing its outstanding Eurobond debt. This marks the second proposal following the November 2023 agreement, which initially faced reservations from the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding comparability of treatment concerns. However, both parties have now given their approval, signaling a positive shift in Zambia’s sovereign outlook prospects. READ ALSO: Zambia in International Capital Market ‘Come Back’ after Historic…
Africa’s second largest red metal producer Zambia will be making a fresh appearance in the international capital markets with a re-issuance of fresh bonds following a historic bond restructure consensus reached with Eurobond holders. Tainted the first nation to default in COVID pandemic era, Zambia will be the first nation to restructure debt involving different creditor classes under the G20 Common framework. A quarter of a year ago in November, the red metal producer hit a snag after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) expressed reservations on an in principle deal the Zambia authorities earlier…
Africa’s second largest red metal producer Zambia will be making a fresh appearance in the international capital markets with a re-issuance of fresh bonds following a historic bond restructure consensus reached with Eurobond holders. Tainted the first nation to default in COVID pandemic era, Zambia will be the first nation to restructure debt involving different creditor classes under the G20 Common framework. A quarter of a year ago in November, the red metal producer hit a snag after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Official Creditor Committee (OCC) expressed reservations on an in principle deal the Zambia authorities earlier…
As Easter approaches, Zambia, Africa’s second-largest red metal hotspot, anticipates a short week ahead with markets closing from Friday, March 29th to Monday, April 1st. This week brings optimism surrounding recently announced eurobond restructuring, the third Kwacha bond sale of 2024, March inflation data released by the Zambia Statistics Agency, and April petroleum price announcements by the Energy Regulation Board. READ ALSO: On the Cusp of Debt Restructure, Zambia Restarts Negotiations with Dollar Bondholders Here are some insights into these pre-Easter market developments: DEBT DEAL TO GIVE KWACHA A POSITIVE CUEAs an early Easter gift, Zambia has reached an agreement…
Markets in Africa’s second largest copper hostspot, Zambia are gripped with optimism as its authorities restart negotiations with dollar bond holders. This follows a stand off in November last year when an agreement in principle was opposed by the Official Creditor Committee led by China and France, and the International Monetary Fund on the back on comparability assymetries. The two parties expressed discomfort on the incompatbility with the G20 Common framework principles that require that all creditors be treated equally. This was despite the proposal meeting the debt sustainability thresholds set by the Washington based lender, the IMF. Early the…
Africa’s red metal hotspot Zambia continues to make strides to ramp its copper production, with the most recent being handover of Mopani Copper Mines to its new majority shareholder. Head of State President Hakainde Hichilema on 21 March handed over the mine to new majority shareholder International Resources Holdings of the United Arab Emirates in a $1.1 billion book valued deal. This transaction has dawned the sun on a mining town of Kitwe, home to key red metal operations that has seen a slow down in view of exit of former shareholder Glencore Corporation. READ ALSO: Mining Outlook gets Positive…