Opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) President Kasonde Mwenda has cautioned President Hakainde Hichilema against sidelining China in preference to the West.
Mr. Kasonde said it is time for President Hichilema to take the interest of the nation above himself and face China.
He said there was a need for President Hichilema to sit down with China outside the International Monetary Fund (IMF) framework over the $6 billion national debt
“China has cancelled Zambian debt multiple times before, to the tune of $259 million over the period 2000-2018. Yet under Hakainde Hichilema’s regime, over a year has passed yet all efforts to restructure Zambia’s $6 Billion foreign debt owed to China under the IMF framework remain fruitless. The main reason for failure is simply because instead of engaging China directly as we always do, Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema is too yoked to Western puppetry and would rather travel to London and US and lobby the West to talk on his behalf to China to restructure our debt as he gets a reward of a paltry $1.3 billion IMF loan,” Mr. Mwenda said.
“The fact is that China was willing to negotiate a debt cancellation but President Hakainde Hichilema had his own plans. China has cancelled Zambian debt multiple times before, to the tune of $259 million over the period 2000-2018. To put this in context, while Zambia received a total $2 billion in debt relief over the same period from others, the bilateral debt cancellations from several Paris Club members were smaller than China’s – for instance, $151 million from the U.K. and $122 million from the U.S. Similarly, due to the pandemic, China already unilaterally agreed to an (undisclosed) deferment of interest payments from Zambia in October 2020. China didn’t have to work with other creditors to do so,” Mr. Mwenda stated.
He charged that President Hichilema should not let the West use Zambia to fight China because it is Zambians who will suffer.
“Around 30 percent of Zambia’s total loans are owed to China, the same percentage as owed to the private sector via “Eurobonds,” versus around 19 percent owed to development banks – mostly the World Bank and African Development Bank. According to the China Africa Research Initiative, Zambia has used Chinese loans for more than 69 projects over the period 2000-2018, mostly in the transport and power sectors. In late 2020, China wrote off $113 million interest-free loan debts due to mature in 15 African countries. China unfortunately is not pleased and wants him to go to China and directly talk to them. But for fear of displeasing the West, President HH would rather watch the country sink and economic collapse. President HH should not let the West use Zambia to fight China because it is Zambians who will suffer as already are suffering with loadshedding. That $2billion Britain claiming to plan to invest in our energy sector is just a bait to keep HH believing they care. The fact is no one cares for Africans. We are on our own,” Mr. Mwenda said.
He concluded:”Protracted talks on debt restructuring with China are now beginning to hurt the Zambian Economy and the Zambian kwacha at the back drop of poor productivity is crushing down. This depreciation of Kwacha at K18.56/$ today will not vanish away on its own. The worst is yet to come. To exasperate matters, if the Kwacha continues depreciating like this, we risk paying the IMF double the amount we borrowed by next year. In the long run all our debts will balloon and completely crush the economy. It is time for President HH to take the interest of the nation above self and face China. He should be a man and serve the interest of Zambians not the West. He can’t run away from China forever. It is time to strike a balance between China and the West.”