IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva had said earlier on Thursday that Zambia had already signed the MoU, when speaking on a panel at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Marrakech.
However, clarifying the timeline, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said the actual signing had yet to happen, though it was imminent. "From Managing Director Kristalina's mouth to god's ears, the MoU will hopefully be signed next week, we are very close to finalising it," Musokotwane said in a statement sent to reporters after the event.
Zambia was the first African country to default on its debt in the pandemic era and its restructuring process, which saw it agree broad terms to rework $6.3 billion of debt with official creditors "An agreement on an MoU is nearly finalized and the signing is expected soon. More details will be made available then," an IMF spokesperson added in a statement after the panel finished.Canada's Reconnaissance Energy Africa will start a new drilling campaign early next year near the protected Okavango Delta in Namibia, its new CEO said on Thursday as he downplayed criticism of the project from environmental groups.