The country’s High Commissioner to Nigeria, Dr. Salomon Jere, has said that no assets of the country is tied to the chinese loan.
Dr. Jere also said that contrary to claims in some quaters, Zambia has not been bought over by China despite the $12 billion loan profile.
The ambassador refuted the report on Wednesday while briefing Journalists in Abuja.
The envoy said his country did not mortgage any of its assets to China.
He said the picture painted about the loan profile is false and also fake news; stressing that Zambia has not used any of its assets as collateral.
He added that no assets in Zambia that was at risk as a result of the loans from China.
Besides, he said the Zambian government is in the process of off setting the debt, which has been reduced drastically.
” The High Commission of the Republic of Zambia in Nigeria also wishes to refute the despicable reports, circulating in various media, that Zambia has lost its sovereignty to China over bad debts.
“All well-meaning individuals should ignore the malicious rumours that the Chinese government intends to repossess some Zambian state-owned enterprises because of the government’s failure to settle its outstanding debt obligations.
“Zambia has not offered any of its assets as collateral security for any of its bilateral or multilateral loans and therefore, there are no state enterprises at risk of being repossessed.
“I want to assure the international community that the government of the Republic of Zambia is working very hard to revitalise the country’s economy, in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, by diversifying away from mining through agriculture, tourism and renewable energy.”
