Zambia reaches deal with bondholders on debt restructuring

Zambia’s government reached an agreement in principle with a steering committee of holders of $3 billion in eurobonds to restructure the debt, three years after first defaulting on the loans.

The accord was reached on the key commercial terms of a proposed overhaul of its 2022, 2024 and 2027 bonds, the Finance and National Planning Ministry said in a statement on Thursday. The deal includes permanently waiving about $700 million in claims and offering about $2.5 billion in cash flow relief through reduced debt-servicing payments during the nation’s International Monetary Fund program period, it said.

“Today’s agreement with the steering committee brings us closer to the completion of Zambia’s debt restructuring, which will release significant resources for our developmental agenda,” Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane said in the statement. The steering committee holds about 18% of Zambia’s outstanding eurobonds, and represents an ad-hoc committee that owns more than 40% of the securities.

Zambia’s 2024 bonds surged 3.32 cents on the dollar by 9:22 a.m. in London to 61.50 cents — the highest since September 2022, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The 2027 securities were little changed at 57.57 cents.

The deal comes less than two weeks after Zambia, which defaulted on its debt in November 2020, agreed a memorandum of understanding to restructure its loans with official creditors. That accord paved the way for the disbursement of another portion of a $1.3 billion IMF loan to the southern African nation.