
Zambia’s debt crisis has been widely publicized since it became the first African country to default on its debt payments during the Covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic worsened the country’s pre-existing debt crisis and led to balance of payment challenges. As a result, the Zambian government sought an IMF bailout program, which was eventually approved in September 2022. The IMF program has intensified discussions around debt restructuring within a common framework coordinated by the G20 major economies.