South Africa’s Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said that his country supports Zimbabwe’s implementation of key reforms to resolve its debt problems.
Gondongwana presented a message of support during a round-table meeting on Zimbabwe’s debt arrears clearance at the African Development Bank (AfDB)’s 2023 annual meetings on Wednesday.
He said any challenge faced by Zimbabwe will also affect South Africa’s economy, hence the need to resolve Zimbabwe’s debt crisis and end economic sanctions. Said Gondongwana:
All of us are concerned about Zimbabwe. Economic sanctions continue to place Zimbabwe further into unsustainable debt. We support this [debt reforms] initiative with all our effort.
In February this year, President Emmerson Mnangagwa said the Government was committed to a plan to clear more than US$6 billion of external debt arrears which were hindering its access to international loans.
Zimbabwe had more than US$14 billion in external debt as of September 2022 and has been unable to secure loans from the likes of the International Monetary Fund in more than twenty years, due to its arrears.
Zimbabwe, together with the AfDB and other development partners is working on a process to clear its debts and arrears.
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