The comments, broadcast on local radio Thursday, come as the African nation struggles to restructure its bilateral loans and bonds after defaulting in 2020. The debt was taken on by previous governments, before Hichilema was elected in August 2021.
We “have to be able to get the principal down,” Hichilema told Sun FM radio in Zambia’s northern Copperbelt province. “We’ll be able to renegotiate the reckless interest rates that our colleagues agreed — 10, 11, 12%. Suicidal. That’s a black mamba kiss of death,” he said, a reference to the highly lethal venomous snake.
Hichilema’s comments come amid talks to restructure $12.8 billion of Zambian debt under the Group-of-20 nation’s so-called Common Framework. Crucially, Zambia owes Chinese creditors about $6 billion, and China has been reluctant to set any precedent of taking direct haircuts on its loans to developing nations.“There is the likelihood that Ghanaian external debt restructuring could occur ahead of Zambia,” said Samantha Singh, senior markets strategist at Rand Merchant Bank.