{"id":5111,"date":"2021-08-28T19:46:25","date_gmt":"2021-08-28T19:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg"},"modified":"2021-08-28T19:59:33","modified_gmt":"2021-08-28T19:59:33","slug":"ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg","title":{"rendered":"Ex-Economist Takes Zambia from Default to Investor Darling \u2013 Bloomberg"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press<\/a> – Zambia<\/a>. <\/strong><\/span>Zambia\u2019s new president, Hakainde Hichilema, is turning the nation\u2019s economic fortunes around barely a week into the job. The southern African nation\u2019s currency and dollar bonds have surged to become the world\u2019s best performers since he was announced the winner of Aug. 12 elections.<\/p>\n

His pick of economist Situmbeko Musokotwane as finance minister has gone down well with investors, as have his pronouncements that he\u2019ll speedily conclude a financing deal with the International Monetary Fund and court foreign investment. Zambians have grown used to bad news in recent years.<\/p>\n

Production of copper, which accounts for more than 70% of export earnings, stagnated as the government clashed with mining companies. The kwacha currency depreciated from 5.10 to the dollar at the end of 2011 to a record low 22.68 this year. Annual inflation reached almost 25% in July, the highest level in nearly two decades.<\/p>\n

The change in power has brightened the nation\u2019s economic prospects, with investors optimistic that the new administration will drive a sustained recovery, and restructure almost $13 billion in external loans after securing IMF funding. While Hichilema had said he hopes to reach a deal with the fund by April, Musokotwane is targeting October.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s night and day at the moment,\u201d said Neville Mandimika, economist and fixed income strategist at FirstRand Bank Ltd. in Johannesburg. \u201cThe expectation has been completely raised.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hichilema, 59, studied economics in the U.K., served as the chief executive officer of an accounting firm and unsuccessfully ran for the presidency five times before finally winning this month. The late President Michael Sata, who\u2019s party he dislodged from power, dubbed him \u201ccalculator boy\u201d \u2014 a snipe at his economic jargon-laden speeches.<\/p>\n

Hichilema capitalized on widespread discontent over rampant unemployment and soaring prices especially among young voters to secure his landslide election win.<\/p>\n

He was sworn in on Aug. 24 and pledged to stabilize the nation\u2019s finances following years of overspending by his predecessor Edgar Lungu\u2019s administration that culminated in Zambia becoming the first African sovereign-debt defaulter since the pandemic struck.<\/p>\n

High on the new administration\u2019s list of priorities is mending ties with the mining industry. Musokotwane wants to more than double annual copper production to as much as two million metric tons by 2026. That would help bolster foreign reserves, which had dwindled due to rising debt-servicing costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou will be amazed how much foreign exchange this country is going to make,\u201d the finance minister said on Friday after being sworn in. \u201cYou will not know what to do with the dollars that this country will be receiving.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. Zambia\u2019s new president, Hakainde Hichilema, is turning the nation\u2019s economic fortunes around barely a week into the job. The southern African nation\u2019s currency and dollar bonds have surged to become the world\u2019s best performers since he was announced the winner of Aug. 12 elections. His pick of economist Situmbeko Musokotwane as finance […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":5110,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,12,16],"tags":[234,235,2125,2126,233],"class_list":["post-5111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-economic-fortunes","tag-imf-funding","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nEx-Economist Takes Zambia from Default to Investor Darling \u2013 Bloomberg - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Zambia\u2019s new president, Hakainde Hichilema, is turning the nation\u2019s economic fortunes around barely a week into the job. ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ex-Economist Takes Zambia from Default to Investor Darling \u2013 Bloomberg\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Zambia\u2019s new president, Hakainde Hichilema, is turning the nation\u2019s economic fortunes around barely a week into the job. ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-08-28T19:46:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-08-28T19:59:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2021\/08\/img-612a9585b75de.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"504\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Ex-Economist Takes Zambia from Default to Investor Darling \u2013 Bloomberg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-08-28T19:46:25+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-08-28T19:59:33+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg\"},\"wordCount\":437,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2021\/08\/img-612a9585b75de.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"economic fortunes\",\"IMF funding.\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ex-economist-takes-zambia-from-default-to-investor-darling-bloomberg\",\"name\":\"Ex-Economist Takes Zambia from Default to Investor Darling \u2013 Bloomberg - 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