Thursday, March 28, 2024

US Treasury Secretary Arrives in Zambia to Address Debt Crisis and Promote Economic Development

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United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen is set to arrive in Zambia on her Africa tour today. During her visit, Secretary Yellen will participate in various activities and meetings to highlight joint efforts between the US and Africa to promote global health and economic development.

Secretary Yellen’s first stop will be at a community health site, where she will tour the facility and participate in a discussion on joint efforts to advance global health. She will then visit Mylan Lab’s Lusaka distribution center, which employs 75 workers and helps distribute anti-malarial and anti-retroviral treatments. The Secretary will tour the facility and highlight the role of the US in promoting a healthy population in Africa.

Afterwards, Secretary Yellen will have a lunch with business leaders from the American Chamber of Commerce in Zambia, followed by bilateral meetings with President Hakainde Hichilema, Minister of Finance Situmbeko Musokotwane, and Governor of the Bank of Zambia Denny H. Kalyalya.

One of the key issues that Secretary Yellen will be discussing during her visit is the issue of Zambia’s debt, particularly its debt to China. Zambia has been struggling to repay its debt, which has led to calls for a multilateral debt restructuring agreement. The potential agreement is seen as a crucial test case for efforts to help developing countries find relief from sometimes crushing external debt.

Secretary Yellen has expressed cautious optimism that China will be willing to enter into such an agreement. During her meeting with her Chinese counterpart, Liu He, in Zurich on Wednesday, Secretary Yellen raised the case of Zambia and received a “constructive” response from China.

“Our counterparts are sophisticated economics officials who can listen to a reasoned argument and understand it,” Yellen told reporters in Dakar, Senegal, on Saturday. “I definitely think they get what the problem is, and that there needs to be a solution.”

However, China has appeared to drag its feet on agreeing to a restructuring deal with Zambia. Yellen shed some light on why this may be the case, saying “They have issues about why multilateral development banks don’t have to take a haircut, and that needs to be worked through.”

Despite this, Yellen remains optimistic about the possibility of a deal. “But we have counterparts who we are able to talk to in a reasonable way, and work through our differences, and I hope out of that process that some progress will come,” she said.

On January 24, Secretary Yellen will tour two agricultural-related sites in Zambia. During her visit, the Secretary will deliver remarks highlighting the work the Treasury Department and the US government are engaged in to promote climate-resilient agriculture and food production, as well as to mitigate the global spillover effects of Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.

25 COMMENTS

    • Coming to talk to us about debt or coming to sell us more debt? USA has the largest debt on this planet and yet this woman is travelling all the way to talk to us on a debt which can be settled by 1 person in the US. She is coming to check on the progress on colonisation part 2.

  1. She is part part of the most corrupt Bidden administration…the US is in now in serious debt…she’s failing to manage debt in the USA and she’s traveling half across the universe to come and school Zambians about debt….very useless Bidden administration

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  2. What else can all these useless PF cares say? Other than critise? AHahahahhahahahahahahhahahahahahahahhahahahah

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  3. The one running zambia has arrived. The chola boy hh is now reporting on his performance to his whlte masters. Robert mugabe was so right.

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  4. Way to go Zambia… look east policy will take you to the Zimbabwean ruins. Zambia has always been a western looking democracy hence our undisputed standing in a continent full of failed states

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  5. The Chinks our biggest creditors are sat there hands folded looking at this comedy happening before their eyes …our President is talking his muzungu masters about the issue of Zambia’s debt, particularly its debt to China when he has never engaged the Chinks himself at high level. HH is waiting for the muzungus to tell him when its okay to fly to Beijing.

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    • Exactly, it is like we have subcontracted some our responsibilities to the West who don’t even know how to use diplomacy towards China to plead the case for us!! As A COUNTRY WE SHOULD TAKE OUR OWN DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVE AND ENGAGE CHINA ON BILATERAL BASIS AND THEN CHINA CAN TREAT OUR MATTER AS AN ISSUE OF URGENT CONCERN IN THE MULTILATERAL DISPENSATION,OTHERWISE CHINA WILL JUST KEEP QUIET UNTIL OUR SITUATION WORSENS AND THE WEST GETS EXHAUSTED!!

    • In these uncertain times its best to play it both sides like India who are benefitting from cheap energy from Russia and selling it at a profit …but we have a President who never learnt nothing about playing chess he only knows how to play his people for profit and he thinks he is smart.

  6. If you really love us and care about us,, why not pay the chinese on our behalf. You have given billions to Ukrain. Just give is a quarter of that and yiou can have our country.

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    • @zambian…Stop pimping our country. Who told you our country is for sale? You can sell yourself to the Americans and donate the funds towards the debt relief.

    • Typical, if someone with fake money shows interest in your property then you must know that your property has higher value than their fake money. Some people find it hard to understand this.

  7. African countries will always remain poor….instead of looking within our borders or neighboring countries…we run to the corrupt Western world for help….someone should ask Yellen why her boss Bidden is busy stealing classified documents and hiding them in his house….the level of corruption under Bidden administration is unheard of….just like Trump all corrupt moroooons….

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  8. Exactly, it is like we have subcontracted some our responsibilities to the West who don’t even know how to use diplomacy towards China to plead the case for us!! As A COUNTRY WE SHOULD TAKE OUR OWN DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVE AND ENGAGE CHINA ON BILATERAL BASIS AND THEN CHINA CAN TREAT OUR MATTER AS AN ISSUE OF URGENT CONCERN IN THE MULTILATERAL DISPENSATION,OTHERWISE CHINA WILL JUST KEEP QUIET UNTIL OUR SITUATION WORSENS AND THE WEST GETS EXHAUSTED!!

  9. We better wake up!! The US is trying to potray China as a bad guy in Africa and the former has jumped on our debt situation to spearhead that crusade. While there are multilateral arrangements for debt relief for third world countries, we need to have our own discussions with China a bilateral friendly country and agree on how they can help in the multilateral arrangement. As A COUNTRY WE SHOULD TAKE OUR OWN DIPLOMATIC INITIATIVE AND ENGAGE CHINA ON BILATERAL BASIS AND THEN CHINA CAN TREAT OUR MATTER AS AN ISSUE OF URGENT CONCERN IN THE MULTILATERAL DISPENSATION,OTHERWISE CHINA WILL JUST KEEP QUIET UNTIL OUR SITUATION WORSENS AND THE WEST GETS EXHAUSTED!!

  10. The stench of corruption and indebtedness that PF left behind has pulled US Treasury Sec Yellen 10,000miles to Zambia.
    Such a huge shame.

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