Zimbabwe seeking $150m AfDB loan to tackle debt default

Zimbabwe is in talks with the African Development Bank for a $150 million loan as part of efforts to clear billions of dollars of debt arrears, Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said.

The discussions add to efforts flagged by Ncube in April that the authorities are having with nations including the UK, Japan and Germany to raise $2.5 billion.

The southern African nation has been locked out of international capital markets since 1999 after defaulting on debt owed to lenders including the World Bank, the Paris Club and the AfDB, and is seeking to restructure about $23 billion of loans.

The AfDB’s Transition Support Facility is designed to help eligible countries clear their debt arrears and normalize relations with international creditors, according to Eyerusalem Fasika, the lender’s country director for Zimbabwe. The AfDB already approved a $4 million grant to Zimbabwe in May to support the arrears clearance process, she said.

“The AfDB remains Zimbabwe’s lead partner in the arrears clearance process and is playing a catalytic role in supporting the country’s re?engagement with the international financial community,” Fasika said. “Clearing arrears is the gateway to unlocking the development financing the country urgently needs.”

Zimbabwe in February secured a staff-monitored program from the International Monetary Fund — a key step toward resolving its obligations. The fund is conducting its first review of the program under a mission team led by Wojciech Maliszewski, the Zimbabwean finance ministry said in a statement on X.

Ncube briefed the “delegation on recent economic developments and progress in mobilizing support for arrears clearance and bridge financing,” the ministry said.

“Government and the IMF reaffirmed their shared commitment to economic stability, fiscal discipline, transparency, arrears clearance, debt restructuring, and international re-engagement.”

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