Zambia’s maiden Eurobond disbursed
By Nawa Mutumweno – The issuance of Zambia’s debut US$750 million Eurobond signified a mark of confidence by the international community in the country’s economic ‘path’, catapulting her into the sight of a wide array of investors.
Requiring US$500 million, the offers were oversubscribed, which financial analysts and experts said was exceptional and enormous for an inaugural bond of an emerging market economy.
According to Government data, a number of institutions have been allocated a piece of this economic ’cake’. Zambia Railways Limited got US$120 million for railway line and rolling stock rehabilitation; the Road Development Agency (RDA) received US$100 million for construction of the Kitwe-Chingola dual carriageway road project and US$65 million for the Pave Zambia road project.
Other disbursements include US$69 million to ZESCO for reinforcement works of the Lusaka and Copperbelt distribution project and US$ 186 million for the Kafue Gorge hydropower project, US$29 million to the University Teaching Hospital (UTH), Ndola, Kitwe and Livingstone general hospitals for rehabilitation works and US$20 million to the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) for empowerment of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs).
‘’Every Zambian should take pride in the award, which simply means citizens, when viewed collectively, are super creditworthy. That is why investors are still jostling and begging to lend Zambia money without collateral over a 10-year period,’’ Commerce, Trade and Industry deputy minister Miles Sampa enthused at the time.
