As Zambia mourned the death of its former President Edgar Lungu on June 5, a quieter crisis was unfolding in the country’s public hospitals. Just days after Lungu’s passing, the Resident Doctors Association of Zambia suspended all voluntary services nationwide, citing the government’s failure to address long-standing promises. These included the recruitment of additional medical staff, payment of overdue allowances, and resolution of delayed promotions—commitments made during earlier negotiations with the Ministry of Health. While the tragedy of leadership loss and the strain on frontline medical staff may seem unrelated, they are threads in the same fabric of fiscal and structural fragility that many developing nations face—a fragility tied, in part, to the opaque and discriminatory power of global credit rating agencies.
Biased credit ratings are costing Africa billions—and worsening its health crises – Atlantic Council
