MAY 2020: Government hires French firm Lazard to advise on restructuring foreign debt.
JUNE 2020: Zambia requests to have its debt payments frozen under the G20-led Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI), which was established in response to COVID-19.
NOVEMBER 2020: Zambia misses a US$42.5 million payment on one of its international bonds, making it the continent’s first pandemic-era sovereign defaulter.
FEBRUARY 2021: Government requests debt restructuring under the G20’s Common Framework, a process also set up in response to COVID-19.
AUGUST 2021: Zambia changes leadership with Hakainde Hichilema elected President.
OCTOBER 2021: Ministry of Finance confirms external debt to be around US$17bn as at June 30, 2021.
JUNE 2022: Governments owed by Zambia form an official creditor committee (OCC) to formally start restructuring loans.
JULY 2022: OCC, co-chaired by China and France, commit to granting the country debt relief, paving the way for IMF to approve a US$1.3bn three-year rescue loan.
JUNE 2023: OCC agrees to restructure its combined $6.3bn worth of loans to Zambia, much of it owed to China.
OCTOBER 2023: Zambia reaches “agreement in principle” with private lenders that hold US$3bn November 2023: Deal suffers blow after OCC veto it.
JANUARY 2024: President Hichilema travels to China with debt talks top of the agenda.
FEBRUARY 2024: President Hichilema confirms that India and China have signed restructuring agreements.
MARCH 2024: Government starts talks again with the international bondholders.
MARCH 25, 2024:Zambia agrees deal to restructure $3.5 billion bonds
