Strengthening Local Voices for Debt Sustainability and Accountability in Zambia
Citizens, civil society organisations (CSOs), and advocacy networks such as the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) are leading efforts to ensure that debt management is transparent, accountable, and people-centred. Local institutions in Zambia, including the Civil Society Debt Alliance, are driving public engagement, empowering citizens to demand fair borrowing and spending practices aligned with Zambia’s development goals.
Following Zambia’s application to the G20 Common Framework in February 2021, the country embarked on a debt restructuring journey involving the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and multiple bilateral creditors. Zambia has secured restructuring agreements with official creditors representing about 94% of eligible debt under the common framework for debt treatment. While the approval of an IMF-supported program brought some relief, Zambia’s economic recovery remains fragile. The current Medium-Term Debt Management Strategy (2024–2027) offers a new opportunity to embed citizen oversight into the country’s fiscal reform process ensuring that Zambia never returns to a cycle of unsustainable borrowing.
Enhancing debt sustainability in Zambia begins with empowering citizens to demand transparency and accountability. The Access to Information Act of 2023 provides a crucial legal basis for citizens to access public debt data, but effective implementation requires inclusive communication channels. Some of the practical suggestions that can enhance citizen oversight for debt justice:
Community engagement platforms, such as town halls organised by the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, to deliberate openly on debt and public spending. Leveraging public dialogues such as national budget consultations and presentations also present an opportunity to engage and strengthen citizens participation in debt sustainability and accountability for development.
Use of local media, particularly radio and community forums, to disseminate debt information in local languages and reach citizens without internet access. This also includes equipping journalists to report and keep the public well informed public well-informed. This can be seen by engagements such as the AFRODAD Media Initiative (AFROMEDI) and the Media Debt Network Africa (M-DNA), which amplify the African story on economic justice and sustainable development for the continent.
Stronger legislative oversight, building on the Public Debt Management Act, to expand parliamentary review beyond annual borrowing plans to enforce debt repayment strategies.
Collaboration with civil society, enabling groups at grassroot level to provide research, citizen education, and policy feedback on fiscal decisions. Making use of the national civil society coalition on debt and AFRODAD’s national conference to increase stakeholder awareness and understanding of debt including the intersectionality of debt and development.
By adopting these measures, Zambia can move from a cycle of crisis-driven borrowing to a citizen-centred model of debt governance — one that ensures transparency, inclusivity, and social justice. Debt is not merely a financial issue; it is a development and democracy issue. When citizens are informed, organised, and empowered to oversee public debt, governments are more likely to borrow responsibly and invest wisely. Amplifying grassroots voices in public debt management ensures that debt satisfies its intended goal of supporting development rather than growing inequality, and that public finance benefits people rather than creditors.
AFRODAD continues to champion this cause under its “Africa Rule Maker” mantra — where African citizens, not creditors, shape the rules of economic engagement, ensuring that the continent’s development is both sovereign and sustainable. We promote transparency, accountability, and governance on public debt matters and advocate for full participation of all actors in public finance management processes as enshrined in the African Borrowing Charter. AFRODAD advocates for a reform of the debt architecture through the Harare Declaration that promotes economic development and transformation of Africa without having to trade-off investments in health, education, public infrastructure, and tax revenues.
“Debt justice starts at the community level — where every citizen understands, questions, and contributes to how their country borrows and spends.”
By Malambo Gloria Kankato, Cohort 9 Intern, Executive Director's Office