Sovereign debt workouts need knocking into shape 5 Feb 2024 Countries such as Zambia are twisting in the wind because of long delays in restructuring their debts. It is harder to get all creditors to agree now that China is a big lender. A more integrated approach that better manages laggard lenders could lead to swifter results.
China takes new tack on emerging market debt 27 Apr 2022 Beijing has agreed to work with the Paris Club of official creditors to clear up Zambia’s $17.3 bln debt mess. That’s a major shift from the bilateral approach it usually adopts. An even bigger sign of progress would be accepting a haircut on the $5.8 bln that China is owed.
Zambia chips away at China’s secret debt edifice 1 Oct 2021 The African state owes Chinese lenders $6.6 bln, twice as much as previously thought. That doesn’t change its overall debt burden, just the mix of creditors. But it alters the power balance in restructuring talks. The case for borrowers to be more transparent just got stronger.
Zambian sunlight could disperse Chinese debt fog 18 Aug 2021 The African state’s new leader, Hakainde Hichilema, has to forge a deal with creditors after last year’s default. Getting China to the table won’t be easy. Lifting Beijing’s veil of secrecy by revealing Lusaka’s loans would remove the biggest barrier, and set a good precedent.
Glencore unearths copper-bottomed Zambian lifeboat 19 Jan 2021 The miner is exiting the African state by lending it $1.5 bln to buy its Mopani stake. Linking repayment to the mine’s future copper revenue cuts Glencore’s risk. Lusaka’s bulging debt pile, and its history of disastrous state ownership, gives taxpayers less reason to celebrate.
Africa’s debt chickens return to restive roost 31 Dec 2020 Even before Covid-19, the continent faced a reckoning. Low commodity prices remove a major growth pillar, while mounting leverage rules out more foreign borrowing. With budgets and citizens under pressure from Angola to Zimbabwe, Africa Rising looks more like Africa Uprising.
Zambia default risks bitter reckoning for all 16 Nov 2020 The African country failed to make a $42 mln interest payment to bondholders. Meagre reserves and mining exports mean its economy can limp on, although neighbour Zimbabwe shows the dangers of financial exclusion. Compromise between China and Western creditors is the only way out.
Zambia sucks China and West into debt showdown 15 Oct 2020 The African nation is careering towards default after delaying a bond payment. Western governments, Chinese state banks and private creditors owed $11 bln could have averted a crisis by burying their mutual distrust. A hasty sticking-plaster solution may set some bad precedents.
De Beers’ rocks are in an increasingly hard place 3 Sep 2020 Even before Covid-19, the Anglo American-owned diamond giant’s lunch was being eaten by Russia’s Alrosa and cheaper man-made stones. De Beers still has access to Botswana’s high-quality gems. But lockdowns are blunting the edge its quirky sales method has enabled.
China’s Zambia debt problem is Africa-sized 15 Jun 2020 Beijing-backed lenders are owed nearly a third of the African state’s $10 bln external debt pile. They will be under pressure to share in any restructuring pain. Caving in will set a precedent across a continent that has borrowed $146 bln from China in the last two decades.
Glencore mine grab would have a tiny silver lining 20 Apr 2020 Zambia may seize assets, including the commodity giant’s Mopani copper mine, to help with Chinese debt relief, the WSJ says. That would make the African state a pariah and confirm fears of debt-trap diplomacy by Beijing. At least Glencore might win some useful U.S. sympathy.
Virus gives Africa a good debt default excuse 23 Mar 2020 The continent faces Covid-19 largely on its own as other countries strain to help their own citizens. A young population helps; weak health systems and stretched public finance don’t. Cash-strapped countries like Zambia and Ghana may stop paying what they owe bondholders.
Canadian miner gives copper a belated deal patina 25 Sep 2019 China’s biggest producer of the metal may have built a nearly 10% stake in $6 bln First Quantum, and is negotiating to invest in its Zambian assets. The low price of copper, and depressed industry valuations, make it a good time to do more. It puts Rio Tinto on the M&A spot.
Vedanta Zambia mess tarnishes Anglo breakup pitch 22 May 2019 President Edgar Lungu wants to nationalise the Indian firm’s Konkola copper mines. The hit looks manageable for owner Anil Agarwal. But falling out with a government is an eyesore, particularly if he wants investors to back a potential carve-up of Anglo American in South Africa.
Zambia case puts corporate ethics guff on notice 11 Apr 2019 Britain’s Supreme Court says Vedanta can be sued in London for pollution offences in the African state. Multinationals have tended to trumpet corporate social responsibility at head office, while ignoring sins at subsidiary level. Whatever the case’s outcome, that will change.
China and Africa struggle to kick debt habit 3 Sep 2018 President Xi Jinping pledged another $60 bln to the continent while warning against the kind of binges that have led countries to default. Yet Africa shows no sign of restraint, and China’s lending remains opaque. Accusations of debt-trap diplomacy are likely to linger.
Zambia debt dispute undermines African credit 17 Apr 2018 The copper producer has denied it has dollar debt beyond its $8.7 bln of foreign borrowing. Its vague clarification comes two years after a $3 bln bond scandal in neighbouring Mozambique. Bilateral lending, particularly from China, is blurring the credit picture across Africa.
Glencore is a weather vane for mining M&A 21 Feb 2018 The Swiss commodity group’s once-swollen net debt is below cash flow, but it will only decide later this year whether to hike dividends further. That leaves CEO Ivan Glasenberg scope to look for deals. If Glencore can’t find any decent ones, its peers probably won’t either.
Current account is key Africa factor in 2015 2 Jan 2015 Rapid African growth is likely to continue. But too much spending and borrowing has led many countries into trade deficits. As lenders become more discriminating, the state of the balance of payments, along with freedom from Ebola, will become keys to continued growth.