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

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.

Additional details

It may have followed through on this pledge captured in project #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.

Number of official sources

2

Number of total sources

11