Are Zambians being conned into celebrating restructuring of debt while allowing their own treasure to be plundered?
The Debt Restructuring Monologue: Has Zambia Been Hoodwinked?
Zambians as we prepare to choose our next leaders, let’s ask a vital question: Are we mesmerized by the dazzling complexity of restructuring debt owed to others, while allowing our own treasure to be plundered? Should it not occur to us that the debt restructuring push is not solely for our benefit?
As the election fever heats up in Zambia, one economic refrain will keep dominating the airwaves: Debt restructuring, as it has done for most of the UPND’s term in government. It has been the Promised Land, the magic bullet that was somehow going to rescue the nation’s financial woes. The government has spoken of it with the fervor of a revivalist preacher, its every pronouncement a dramatic plea for understanding and patience.
But while the halls of power have echoed with the complexities of negotiating with creditors, a far more potent force for economic renewal has often been left whispering in the shadows: Illicit financial flows (IFFs). The money siphoned out of the country through dubious means represents a hemorrhage that should easily dwarf the relief offered by debt renegotiations.
Imagine it: every Kwacha lost to corruption, to untaxed corporate profits, to offshore havens, is a Kwacha that could have funded schools, built hospitals, and spurred local industries. This isn’t just about balancing books; it’s about reclaiming our national wealth, strengthening our resource mobilization from within.
So, we need to ask ourselves why IFFs have rarely been the headline act for resource mobilisation for our economy. Why are there no frameworks or time frames for achieving big milestones of reducing or eradicating IFFs? They have remained the background hum, the inconvenient truth too complex for a soundbite, too threatening for easy answers.
Isn’t it curious that while there is the G20 Framework for debt restructuring, there’s no such Framework for containing or eradicating IFFs over defined timeframes. That in itself should tell us something about whose interest the debt restructuring serves
So, Zambians as we prepare to choose our next leaders, let’s ask a vital question: are we mesmerized by the dazzling complexity of restructuring debt owed to others, while allowing our own treasure to be plundered? Should it not occur to us that the debt restructuring push is not solely for our benefit?
During this election season, and beyond, let’s shift the spotlight. Let’s stop the monologue of debt restructuring of little benefit to the masses and talk about the billions lost, and more importantly, how we can reclaim them to benefit the masses and build a truly prosperous Zambia which should easily be able to service its debts.
*About the author: Dr E.D. Wala Chabala is International Development Economist and a Corporate Strategist
Huh? Do you think you can borrow money on international markets and not repay? Defaulting on loans is not a strategy, it’s short term idiocy. Who will ever lend to you again and if they do at what rates of interest? So restructuring debt is critical for making payments more agreeable and using the revenue available to you as best you can.
What UPND has done is to restructure debt payments based on both reckless borrowing of the previous moronic government and paying with interest the money they stole for themselves. This is the unfortunate reality. To talk about a Zambia than can service its debts without dealing with the actual situation is a fairy tale.