Zambia has denied claims by a White House official that China is about to take over its state power utility to recover $6-10 billion debt, noting the utility was never provided as collateral and its debt to Beijing was only $3.1 billion.
U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said on Thursday that China’s quest for more power in Africa was evident in nations like Zambia, and China was poised to take over Zambia’s utility company Zesco to collect the debt.
Zambia’s presidential spokesman Amos Chanda said the figure of between $6-10 billion given by Bolton was wrong. Zambia’s total external debt was now $9.7 billion including $3.1 billion owed to China, he said.
In June, Zambia decided to delay all planned borrowing indefinitely, slowing down the accumulation of new debt amid worries about the risk of debt distress.