Zambia has taken a financing and investment agenda to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank Group annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand. Its aims are to secure approval of a new IMF programme, raise money for power and transport projects, and pitch the country to global investors.
Finance and National Planning Minister Dr Situmbeko Musokotwane is leading the delegation to the meetings, which run until October 18. With him are Secretary to the Treasury Mr Felix Nkulukusa, Bank of Zambia Governor Dr Denny Kalyalya, Ministry of Energy permanent secretary Mr Arnold Simwaba and Ministry of Mines and Minerals Development permanent secretary Mr Hapenga Kabeta, among others.
The delegation arrives on the back of two recent developments. On October 9, Zambia reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a proposed 36-month, US$1.47 billion Extended Credit Facility. Days earlier, on October 5 and 6, Lusaka hosted a World Bank-supported coordination meeting on the Lobito Corridor.
A statement from the Office of the Secretary to the Treasury said these milestones give Zambia a foundation for talks on macroeconomic stability, fiscal and debt sustainability, infrastructure financing and investment. It said the engagements are aligned with the Grow Zambia Agenda championed by President Hakainde Hichilema.
The Government expects the Bangkok talks to strengthen the country’s productive capacity, support technology transfer, expand market access and secure sustainable development financing. The statement said that should ultimately mean higher household incomes and better living standards.
Most immediately, the delegation is focused on the new IMF programme. The statement said the talks with the Fund will advance the successor facility, including the agreed reforms, prior actions and other requirements for consideration by IMF management and approval by its executive board.
“The delegation’s programme includes the International Monetary and Financial Committee Plenary, consultations with the IMF’s African and Fiscal Affairs Departments, and the African Caucus and Governors’ meeting with IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva,” the statement said.
Beyond the programme itself, the discussions will cover sovereign debt vulnerabilities, borrowing costs, domestic revenue mobilisation and reform of the international financial architecture. The Treasury said all of these bear directly on Zambia’s fiscal space and development financing.
With the World Bank, the priorities are infrastructure, energy security, private capital mobilisation, enterprise development and job creation. The delegation is scheduled to attend the Development Committee meeting, hold consultations with World Bank Group president Mr Ajay Banga and regional leadership, and take part in the International Development Association Forum.
Zambia will also hold talks with the United States Treasury, the Borrowers Platform Governing Council and development partners on sovereign financing, debt management and international financial cooperation.
The most concrete project discussions are scheduled with Africa50. Those consultations will explore financing for the Angola-Zambia electricity transmission interconnector, domestic power transmission projects, road and border infrastructure and the Kazungula Bridge Corridor.
The Lobito Corridor, which links Zambia, Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is a central item for the delegation. The Treasury said the corridor offers opportunities to strengthen regional transport and energy connectivity, expand trade and attract investment into mining, agriculture, manufacturing and related value chains.
The Minister and his team will also meet commercial lenders and investors, including Standard Bank, Standard Chartered, Citi and J.P. Morgan. Those meetings will focus on Zambia’s economic outlook, fiscal framework and investment opportunities.
Global conditions will shape the meetings. Finance officials are gathering as the war in the Middle East widens, energy supplies face severe disruption and interest rates are rising. The US-Israeli-led war with Iran, now in its eighth month, is expected to dominate the agenda.
It is the first time in three years that the annual meetings have been held outside Washington. Ms Georgieva said 18,000 people had registered to attend, 4,000 more than at the last off-site meetings in Morocco in October 2023.
Some senior figures are staying away. US Treasury Secretary Mr Scott Bessent is absent and has sent two senior officials in his place. Federal Reserve chairman Mr Kevin Warsh will attend and is due to appear at a public event with Ms Georgieva on October 16.
For Zambia, the outcome to watch is whether the Bangkok talks bring the US$1.47 billion programme closer to executive board approval and turn the corridor and power pitches into financing commitments before the meetings close on October 18.
27