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Overview

Chinese Government pledges to forgive $211 million USD of the Government of Zambia’s outstanding TAZARA debt obligations

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$395,944,896
Commitment Year•2006Country of Activity•ZambiaDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•ZambiaSector•Action Relating To DebtFlow Type•Debt forgiveness

Status

Project lifecycle

Pipeline: Pledge

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Nov 1, 2006

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Funding agencies

Government Agencies

  • Unspecified Chinese Government Institution

Receiving agencies

Government Agencies

  • Government of Zambia

Loan desecription

Chinese Government pledges to forgive $211 million USD of the Government of Zambia’s outstanding TAZARA debt obligations

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In November 2006 during the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), the Chinese Government pledged to forgive $211 million USD of the Government of Zambia's outstanding debt obligations associated with the Tanzania–Zambia Railway (TAZARA) Construction Project. In 1967, the Chinese Government provided an RMB 494 million interest-free loan to the Government of Zambia for the construction of the 1860 km Tanzania–Zambia Railway (TAZARA), stretching from Dar‑es‑Salaam to Kapiri Mposhi. The Government of Zambia was in arrears on this loan at the time that the Chinese Government made its pledge of debt forgiveness in 2006. It is unclear whether the Chinese Government ultimately followed through on its pledge.

Staff comments

It may have followed through on this pledge captured in Record ID#2305. The Chinese project title is 中国政府同意减免与坦赞铁路相关的部分债务. The Chinese Government first announced that it might provide $250 million of debt forgiveness, but this figure was later revised to $211 million. This project is not marked as umbrella because the original debt is not captured in our dataset, so there is no risk of double counting.