(Bloomberg) -- Zambia has asked the World Bank to front-load an existing funding program to help deal with the fallout of an historic drought, and approve a new catastrophe financing line by year-end.
President Hakainde Hichilema made the request when meeting Victoria Kwakwa, the Washington-based lender’s vice president for eastern and southern Africa, according to comments broadcast over state-owned ZNBC TV on Wednesday.
Zambia is battling the impact of the worst drought in decades that wiped out crops and curbed hydroelectric generation, leading to rolling blackouts that last at least 21 hours a day. The severe dry spell already prompted the government to halve its economy growth forecast for this year to 2.3% and the outcome may be even worse, according to Hichilema.
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