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Musokotwane Calls for Stronger African Voice in Global Debt Decisions as Borrowers’ Platform Begins Work

The Zambian Economist — Tue, 13 Oct 2026 07:06:08 +0000

Creditors have long had their clubs. Borrowing countries now have one too. At its first Governing Council meeting in Bangkok, Finance Minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane told the new Borrowers’ Platform that its value will be judged by results, not structures.

By The Zambian Economist Analyst

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane spoke for the Platform’s African members at its inaugural Governing Council meeting, held at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok on the margins of the 2026 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings.
The Borrowers’ Platform, launched in Washington DC in April 2026, has 31 formal member countries. More than 100 developing countries have been invited, and UNCTAD serves as its Secretariat.
The Platform is not a debt restructuring mechanism or a negotiating bloc against creditors. Its stated purpose is technical cooperation, information sharing and better representation of borrowers in international debt discussions.
UNCTAD data shows rising interest payments squeezed development spending in 99 developing countries, home to about 5.5 billion people, between 2018 and 2024.
The Minister urged more eligible African countries to join and called for the Platform to move “from establishing structures to delivering practical results.”

Zambia’s Finance and National Planning Minister, Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane, has called on low-income borrowing countries to take a larger part in shaping the international debt system, as the Borrowers’ Platform began its first annual operating cycle in Bangkok, Thailand.

Speaking on behalf of the Platform’s African members at its inaugural Governing Council meeting, held at the United Nations Conference Centre on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings, the Minister said many African countries still face high financing costs, limited access to affordable loans and slow debt restructuring processes. All three, he said, hold back investment in economic and social development.

“Decisions about debt therefore matter not only to governments, but also to the everyday lives of our people,” he said.

Why borrowers needed their own forum

The Platform was set up to correct an imbalance in how international finance is governed. Creditors have long-established ways of coordinating. Official lenders meet through the Paris Club, and bondholders organise into committees when a country runs into trouble. Borrowing countries have had no comparable institution through which to share expertise, build debt management capacity or put forward common positions on debt policy.

Zambia knows that gap well. Its own restructuring, which followed the 2020 Eurobond default, took more than three years to complete under the G20 Common Framework. During that time the country had to negotiate with official creditors, bondholders and commercial lenders in separate tracks, often on terms set elsewhere.

The scale of the problem is wide. According to United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), rising interest payments reduced the fiscal space available for development in 99 developing countries between 2018 and 2024. Those countries are home to approximately 5.5 billion people.

What the Platform is, and what it is not

The initiative does not encourage governments to borrow more. Its starting position is that borrowing can support development when it is affordable, when the money goes into investments that earn economic and social returns, and when repayments stay within what the budget can carry.

Nor is it a vehicle for collective debt restructuring or a bloc that negotiates against creditors. Members will instead learn from each other’s debt management experience, improve transparency, flag emerging financial risks earlier and take part more effectively in the discussions that set borrowing conditions.

Launched in April 2026 in Washington DC, the Platform has 31 formal member countries, and more than 100 developing countries have been invited to join. UNCTAD provides its Secretariat. The inaugural Governing Council adopted a communiqué that sets out shared priorities for cooperation, knowledge exchange and stronger representation of borrowing countries in international debt discussions.

Results over structures

Dr Musokotwane’s main message to fellow members was about delivery. The Platform, he said, must turn its institutional arrangements into practical benefits: stronger technical cooperation, better information sharing and more effective participation in international financing talks.

“As the Platform begins its work, we must move from establishing structures to delivering practical results,” he said.

He also asked more eligible African countries to join, arguing that a more representative membership would deepen the group’s pooled expertise and its ability to deal with shared financing problems.

The Minister commended Egypt for its leadership as Interim Chair, the Steering Committee for laying the Platform’s institutional foundations, and UNCTAD for its Secretariat support. He linked the initiative to the Sevilla Commitment, the outcome of the 2025 Financing for Development conference, which Zambia co-facilitated, and which states that developing countries should have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect their development prospects.

What it means for Zambians

Debt policy can seem remote from daily life. It is not. When a large share of government revenue goes to interest, less is left for schools, hospitals, roads and water supply. Long restructuring processes keep a country locked out of affordable finance and weigh on investment, jobs and household incomes.

Zambia has seen both effects. Debt service still takes a large share of monthly Treasury releases, and the fiscal space recovered through restructuring is what now allows more spending on social sectors and capital projects. Better debt management, in that sense, is a way of protecting public money.

Zambia’s participation also sits alongside its domestic programme: consolidating fiscal and debt sustainability, improving competitiveness and moving towards higher production, investment, exports and employment under the Grow Zambia Agenda. The Bangkok meeting comes days after Zambia reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a new Extended Credit Facility of about US$1.47 billion.

The Minister said Zambia was ready to share its own experience with other members.

The test ahead

For Zambia and the other member states, the Platform’s worth will show in outcomes that can be measured: cheaper and better structured financing, lower debt-related risks, and more fiscal room to pay for public services and economic transformation. A forum that produces communiqués but no change in borrowing terms would add little.

“Together, we can ensure that borrowing countries have a stronger voice in decisions about their debt and a greater opportunity to achieve sustainable development,” Dr Musokotwane said.

Hub: Economic Diplomacy.

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EAZ Backs US$1.5 Billion IMF Deal, Wants Treasury to Leave Room for Private Borrowers

The Zambian Economist — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 10:21:37 +0000

The Economics Association of Zambia has welcomed the IMF staff-level agreement as the cheapest kind of money Zambia can borrow. Its statement also carries a warning: the Grow Zambia Agenda will not work if government keeps soaking up the credit that businesses need.

By The Zambian Economist Analyst

KEY TAKEAWAYS

The Economics Association of Zambia (EAZ) has welcomed the staff-level agreement on a new IMF Extended Credit Facility of about US$1.5 billion (SDR 1.076 billion, roughly US$1.47 billion), calling it concessional finance of the kind Zambia should prioritise.
EAZ says the facility carries zero interest and should help hold inflation, interest rates, the exchange rate and reserves steady, which it describes as a necessary condition for the Grow Zambia Agenda.
The association wants the deal to reduce government borrowing on the domestic market, so that banks lend more to businesses and less to the Treasury.
It points to external shocks, from conflict-driven oil prices to a weather outlook that threatens energy and agriculture, as reasons the agreement has come at the right time.
EAZ asks government to keep disclosing information openly. The staff-level agreement still needs IMF Management and Executive Board approval before any money is released.

The Economics Association of Zambia has backed the staff-level agreement Zambia reached with the International Monetary Fund on 9 October, describing the proposed Extended Credit Facility as a welcome source of concessional finance at a time of mounting external risk. The statement was issued by EAZ National Secretary Dr John Musantu.

The agreement covers a proposed 36-month arrangement worth SDR 1.076 billion, about US$1.47 billion, which EAZ rounds to US$1.5 billion. It follows the US$1.7 billion programme that helped Zambia through its debt restructuring and has since ended.

Why EAZ calls this the right kind of debt

The association starts from the financing problem behind the Grow Zambia Agenda, the government plan to double the size of the economy. Domestic money alone will not pay for it, EAZ argues, so Zambia needs outside funding. That comes mainly through foreign direct investment or debt, and if it is debt, the association says concessional loans should come first.

An IMF Extended Credit Facility fits that description. EAZ notes that the facility comes at zero interest. Commercial borrowing, such as Eurobonds, costs far more and was at the centre of the default Zambia spent several years restructuring.

Stability first, then growth

EAZ lists what it means by a stable macroeconomic environment: controlled inflation, affordable interest rates, a stable exchange rate, sufficient reserves and strong domestic revenue collection. In its words, that stability is “a key enabler if not necessary condition” for the growth plan.

The timing matters. The association points to geopolitical conflicts pushing up global oil prices and to a weather outlook that could hurt Zambia’s power supply and harvests. A forecast El Niño season in 2026/2027 has already raised concern about water levels for hydropower and about crop output.

The private sector question

The most pointed part of the statement is about domestic credit. When government borrows heavily at home, banks can earn safe returns on Treasury bills and bonds, and they have less reason to lend to small businesses. Economists call this crowding out.

EAZ wants the IMF agreement to reduce that pressure. Once the facility materialises, the association says, it should cut government’s need to borrow from the domestic market to meet its spending obligations. Banks would then have more room, and more reason, to lend to SMEs and the wider private sector.

“The Grow Zambia Agenda is only sustainable and feasible if the country can create a thriving and profitable private sector,” the statement reads.

What it means for businesses and households

For a business owner, the link runs through interest rates and the Kwacha. If government borrows less at home, pressure on domestic interest rates should ease over time, and loans become easier to get. If IMF support strengthens reserves and confidence, the Kwacha is likely to be steadier, which helps importers and anyone pricing goods in dollars.

For households, a steadier currency and lower inflation protect what a salary can buy. None of this is automatic. It depends on the programme being approved, on the reforms attached to it and on how the Treasury manages its borrowing in the 2027 Budget.

What happens next

A staff-level agreement is not yet a loan. The deal still needs agreed policy reforms, any prior actions and approval by IMF Management and the Executive Board. Finance Minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane is leading Zambia’s delegation at the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Bangkok, which run until 18 October.

EAZ closed its statement by asking government to keep disclosing information openly, so that the public can debate economic policy on the facts as Zambia pursues its plan to double the size of the economy.

Hub: Macroeconomy & Policy.