Three Issues in Zambia

Video Transcript

Dan Wood
Portfolio Manager
Emerging Markets Debt Team

I’ve moved away from the beaches of Mozambique to landlocked Zambia, where the issues are very different but equally complex.

Front of every investor’s mind is, “When is the restructuring going to be completed?” This is a very long and drawn-out process, and compromises re needed on all sides. It feels like we’re getting closer, but it remains to discover just how close we are and what the terms of that final agreement might be.

There’s a lot of excitement around the mining industry. At the moment production is very low, but new regulations suggest that production is going to pick up dramatically over the next few years, which is likely to support the Zambian economy.

Lastly, we’re looking at the volatility of the currency. After a year-long depreciation, we saw a sudden appreciation last week. What is behind this?

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