Global lockdown accelerates debt crisis as governments search for solutions

With the most vulnerable debtors facing meltdown – highlighted by Zambia’s threatened default on $3bn- worth of eurobonds – international donors have been refashioning their emergency support for crisis-hit countries, as coronavirus lockdowns and commodity price slumps undermine even the continent’s more robust economies. Looking further ahead, the crisis may pose existential threats to those most vulnerable to large external debts with limited protection from domestic savings and other instruments.