Creditors Block Zambia’s 2053 Bond Buyback, Forcing $65 Million Sweetener
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Jun 12
Creditors Block Zambia’s 2053 Bond Buyback, Forcing $65 Million Sweetener
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Jun 12
Summary
$65 million more was added to Zambia’s “final offer” after bondholders blocked its attempt to repay a bond due in 2053 early and cut future borrowing costs.
The creditors opposed the buyback because the original terms did not suit their interests, underscoring how even a solvent borrower can need investor consent to retire its own debt.
Zambia’s case is presented as part of a wider financing imbalance: African governments pay about 150 basis points above fundamentals, and UNDP estimates that bias costs the continent roughly $75 billion.
Across 2022 to 2024, developing countries paid $741 billion more in debt service than they received in new finance, feeding calls in Africa for a continental rating agency and a UN-backed debt workout mechanism.