Zambia is set to receive $275 million in assistance from the World Bank to help the country recover from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The support is also meant to help the nation deal with the fallout from the war in Ukraine.
The World Bank, in a statement, said the fund is meant to help Zambia, which is ‘over-indebted’, return to sustainable fiscal and debt levels and promote private sector-led economic growth.
According to the bank, the funds will be disbursed by the International Development Association (IDA), a subsidiary of the World Bank that helps vulnerable countries through grants or credits at zero or very low interest.
Zambia’s economy fell into a deep recession due to the adverse impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. In October 2022, the country’s finance ministry announced that Zambia’s external public debt reached $14.87 billion at the end of June 2022.
The government said in March 2022 that external debt was $17.27 billion at the end of 2021, a third of which was held by Chinese lenders. According to reports, Zambia is the first African country to default on its external debt.
The nation’s capital, Lusaka, had in September received approval from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a total of $1.3 billion in financial support to help restructure its debt.
Photo source: Credendo
