Zambia: ZESCO owes $169m to Nava Bharat Ventures, Payment possible in 2 months

The government of Zambia and ZESCO are contemplating a USD 500 million bond program in part to settle arrears to the independent electricity providers.

In the next two months, the Zambian government is likely to pay the debt to Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd., the Indian company that operates a coal-fired power plant in Zambia. ZESCO owes Nava Bharat USD 169 million, as revealed by GRK Prasad, director of Nava Bharat Ventures Ltd., as reported by Lusaka Times.

The source further revealed that the external debt of Zambia as almost doubled from USD 4.8 billion in 2014 to USD 9.5 billion in September 2019 as the government constructs hundreds of kilometres of roads, airports and power stations. According to the International Monetary Fund, the country is currently at high risk of external debt distress. Yields on its Eurobonds are above 13 percent, indicating a new bond program would be pricey. Nava Bharat owns 65 percent of the 300-megawatt Maamba power plant in southern Zambia.