Ghana and Zambia are nearing the completion of their debt restructurings, while Ethiopia’s bond exchange remains pending and Senegal has requested debt treatment under the Common Framework, according to a new Global Sovereign Debt Roundtable report.

The seventh co-chairs’ progress report, published on October 14, says most restructuring cases initiated in 2021–2022 are now largely complete. However, negotiations with remaining commercial creditors continue, and Senegal’s request presents a new test of efforts to make debt relief faster and more predictable.

The report identifies progress in creditor coordination and the implementation of agreements, but warns that settling smaller outstanding claims can still be lengthy, complicated and costly. It calls for stronger information sharing, clearer restructuring options and greater transparency in complex financing arrangements.

Ghana has finalised 16 of 25 bilateral agreements with official creditors represented on its Official Creditor Committee. Negotiations continue with remaining commercial creditors whose claims are not held in bonds and represent less than five per cent of the debt covered by the restructuring.

Ghana also completed the sixth and final review of its IMF-supported programme in July, alongside approval of a 36-month Policy Coordination Instrument, a non-financing arrangement supporting continued policy engagement.

Zambia has resolved more than 94 per cent of debt within its restructuring perimeter—the claims included in the debt-treatment exercise. Remaining negotiations involve a small group of commercial creditors with non-bond claims.

Ten of Zambia’s 16 bilateral agreements with official creditors have been finalised. Having completed its IMF-supported programme in January, the country has requested a follow-up programme to consolidate stabilisation gains and address continuing economic challenges.

Ethiopia’s restructuring is described as well advanced, with 11 of 14 bilateral agreements with members of its Official Creditor Committee finalised.

The country reached an agreement in principle with an ad hoc committee of Eurobond holders on June 29. On August 21, Ethiopian authorities announced that official creditors had determined the proposed bond restructuring terms were consistent with comparability-of-treatment requirements.

Together with agreements reached with other creditors, that preliminary deal covers about 75 per cent of Ethiopia’s total external commercial debt. The bond exchange itself, however, remained pending at the time of the report.

That distinction separates an agreement on proposed terms from completion of the transaction. The report identifies Ethiopia as the exception among the advanced restructuring cases it discusses, with the others now negotiating only remaining commercial claims.

Senegal has requested debt treatment under the Common Framework, the mechanism used in the restructuring cases of Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana and Zambia.

IMF staff and Senegalese authorities reached a staff-level agreement on September 1 for a 36-month Extended Credit Facility arrangement worth approximately US$2.2 billion. The proposed programme remains subject to IMF management and Executive Board approval, corrective actions supporting a waiver request in a misreporting case, and financing assurances from partners.

Senegal has presented its debt-treatment strategy and begun engaging creditor groups. The IMF hosted a meeting between the authorities and external creditors on October 6.

The roundtable supports offering debtor countries standardised restructuring options to help resolve smaller outstanding commercial claims. These would need to meet debt-sustainability targets, IMF programme requirements and comparability-of-treatment expectations—the principle used to assess whether different creditor groups contribute appropriately to debt relief.

The report also encourages parallel negotiations with official and private creditors, where consistent with the borrower’s strategy, rather than waiting for one group to finish before engaging another.

Long delays can leave creditor groups negotiating against different economic forecasts. The report says improved economic prospects should not automatically allow late-settling private creditors to provide less relief than comparability requirements demand. Conversely, a deteriorating outlook may require greater relief to restore sustainability.

For countries whose debt is sustainable but whose repayments constrain development spending, the report highlights the IMF–World Bank three-pillar approach: domestic reforms, external financial support and measures to reduce debt-service burdens. Countries requiring restructuring are not included in that approach.

Côte d’Ivoire and Angola have executed debt-for-education swaps under a joint framework, generating fiscal savings while supporting education commitments. A guarantee structure combining World Bank and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency instruments has also been used in Côte d’Ivoire, Angola and Rwanda to improve private-financing terms.

The report places transparency among its next priorities, particularly for total return swaps and other complex transactions that can complicate restructuring and obscure borrowing costs. It calls for stronger debt-management capacity alongside disclosure, stressing that transparency alone cannot eliminate financial risks.

Optasia, a global fintech company specializing in AI-powered credit-scoring services, has partnered with the Ethiopian technology firm ETTA Technology. This collaboration aims to enhance access to credit for local merchants and small businesses across Ethiopia.

This strategic partnership aligns with the rapid expansion of digital financial services and specifically targets micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The goal is to help these businesses overcome traditional barriers to obtaining bank loans.

ETTA Solutions PLC provides technology solutions designed to modernize business operations, streamline payment systems, and organize commercial data.

Temesgen Gebrehiwot, CEO of ETTA, informed Capital that the partnership with Optasia seeks to enable creditworthiness assessments for merchants based on their daily financial transactions.

According to reports published in July 2026, Optasia’s planned expansion into Ethiopia and Egypt is part of a broader strategy to extend credit accessibility across underserved African markets.

A primary objective of the partnership is to establish an automated underwriting framework that evaluates creditworthiness by analyzing merchants’ digital transaction histories.

In Ethiopia, many small merchants conduct daily business transactions but lack formal financial statements. Most track sales manually in paper ledgers or operate primarily in cash, making it challenging for conventional banks to accurately assess their actual cash flow.

To address this challenge, ETTA developed Zuriya, a digital management platform that enables merchants to log sales, manage payments, and systematically record business data.

According to ETTA, Zuriya processed over 120 billion birr in transaction volume in its first year, onboarding more than 3,000 merchants. The company reported that participating merchants experienced over a 5% increase in business activity.

ETTA emphasized that the joint credit-scoring model will integrate this operational data with other key business metrics to reliably estimate repayment capabilities.

However, Temesgen clarified that achieving a favorable credit score does not guarantee immediate loan approval. Banks will still need to perform due diligence regarding repayment capacity, loan terms, and regulatory compliance.

Limited access to commercial bank credit remains a major bottleneck for private sector growth in Ethiopia. Small businesses critically require working capital to purchase inventory, acquire equipment, and scale operations.

Historically, obstacles such as insufficient tangible collateral, a lack of verifiable credit history, and informal record-keeping have prevented many merchants from securing bank financing.

AI-driven credit assessment systems offer an alternative mechanism to evaluate cash flow dynamics, unlocking financial opportunities for businesses unable to satisfy conventional banking criteria.

Optasia leverages AI algorithms and mobile data to deliver micro-loans, working capital financing, and other digital credit products targeting unbanked and underbanked populations and businesses.

For its part, ETTA delivers technology solutions encompassing operational modernization, payment processing, sales recording, and data management. ETTA’s platform ecosystem enables merchants to capture sales data, manage receivables, track revenues and expenses, and maintain compliance with electronic invoicing and tax regulations.

The company also highlighted its recent partnership with Visa, aimed at extending digital payment acceptance beyond large urban enterprises to small shops and informal trade hubs. The planned credit-scoring framework with Optasia builds upon this foundation, bridging commercial data with mainstream financial institutions to expand credit access for merchants.

Optasia’s entry into the Ethiopian market represents a major milestone following the country’s historic decision in 2024 to open its banking sector to foreign investors—a policy initiative intended to attract international capital, foster market competition, and introduce innovative financial services.