By Staff Reporter
Finance minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane says Zambia has encountered significant challenges in coordinating non-bonded commercial creditors, resulting in lengthy negotiating processes.
Speaking during the G-20 Global Sovereign Round Table in Washingtin DC, held on the sidelines of the ongoing 2025 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group, Dr Musokotwane called for a more robust mechanism for non-bonded creditors to be brought on board earlier on in the process through information sharing mechanism to minimise coordination challenges. He requested the assembly to engage more with regional development banks under the G-20 common framework.
Dr Musokotwane said Zambia had so far signed bilateral agreements with France and Saudi Arabia, and expected to sign additional substantial agreements by September 2025.
And Japanese Vice-Minister for International Affairs Atsushi Mimura said the implementation of the G-20 Common Framework for debt treatment through which Zambia’s debt restructuring was handled, was just the beginning of sustainable development for the country. He informed Dr Musokotwane that Japan had begun preparations for the ninth Tokyo International Conference of African Development (TICAD) to be held in Yokohama, Japan from August 20-22, this year.
And African Development Bank presidential aspirant Samuel Maimbo, who was introduced to the Japanese delegation by Dr Musokotwane, outlined his vision for the Pan African Bank if elected to the position next month.
And in another engagement, Dr Muskokotwane told the high-level gathering at the Spanish Embassy in Washington, which met to discuss the forthcoming United Nations International Conference on financing to be held in Seville, Spain from June 30 to July 03, 2025, that despite a shifting paradigm in official development assistance, development financing through the public private partnership was relevant, and the way to go. He called for the consideration of the private sector during planning for the conference as the next source of development finance was the private sector.
Dr Musokotwane noted that in past conferences, the actions that came out required a lot of government-to-government engagement, saying now space must not only be provided for the private sector but also clearly indicate how development institutions, such as the World Bank and others, could cooperate and leverage each other with the private sector.
