Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema has urged China and the bankrupt nation’s other creditors to end the stand-off over its $13bn debt restructuring, calling the delay “an indictment” of the credibility of the global system.
The southern African country has become a symbol of the failures of the G20-endorsed common framework that is meant to expedite solutions to debt crises in poor countries. The impasse has underlined how tensions between Beijing and Washington over a range of issues are complicating negotiations over sovereign debt restructuring.
Africa’s second biggest copper producer has been in financial limbo since last year when China, its single biggest creditor, objected to a deal the country had reached with private bondholders. Beijing said the agreement was unfair compared with official debt relief.