Zimbabwe owes Japan US$381m as debt talks continue

ZIMBABWE owes Japan approximately US$381 million in overdue debt, making Tokyo one of the country's largest Paris Club creditors, Japan's Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Nobutaka Maekawa, has said.

The debt forms part of Zimbabwe's estimated US$3,8 billion obligation to Paris Club creditors, which accounts for about 55 percent of the country's cumulative external arrears and nearly 30 percent of its total foreign debt stock.

In an interview with the businessdigest, Ambassador Maekawa said the bulk of Zimbabwe's debt to Japan consists of arrears arising from development loans extended by the Japanese government over the years.

"Zimbabwe's public debt stock owed to Japan is US$381 million as of the end of September 2025, which is the fourth largest among the Paris Club creditor countries," said Maekawa.

"The outstanding balance is due to the Japanese government's development support loans in the past, and most of the balance is overdue debt."

Zimbabwe's total public debt is estimated at about US$23 billion. The country has remained largely excluded from international capital markets for more than two decades after failing to meet repayment obligations to multilateral and bilateral lenders.

Ambassador Maekawa said resolving the debt challenge would require consistent economic reforms, sound macro-economic management and policy stability capable of generating sustainable economic growth.

"For Zimbabwe to clear this debt, sustainable economic growth through steady macro-economic management and policy implementation is essential," he said.

"The Japanese government will continue to support Zimbabwe's economic development in line with its national development strategy."

Zimbabwe launched a structured debt resolution and arrears clearance dialogue platform in 2022 involving creditors, development partners and international financial institutions as part of efforts to normalise relations with lenders and unlock fresh financing.

Despite the debt burden, Japan has remained one of Zimbabwe's longstanding development partners.

According to Ambassador Maekawa, Japan has provided cumulative assistance worth approximately US$1,191 billion to Zimbabwe since Independence in 1980 through loans, grants and technical cooperation programmes.

"Japan has cooperated with the development of Zimbabwe as a good partner. This development cooperation covers a wide range of areas such as infrastructure development, human resource development, health and sanitation, and agriculture," he said.

"In total, Japan has provided around US$346 million in loan aid, US$660 million in grant aid, and US$185 million in technical cooperation."

Japan's support has extended across several key sectors, including healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture and education.

In the health sector, Japanese assistance has included the provision of medical equipment, second-hand ambulances, cholera prevention programmes and cold-chain infrastructure to support the distribution of Covid-19 vaccines.

The country has also supported healthcare quality improvement initiatives through the 5S-Kaizen-Total Quality Management (TQM) programme, which seeks to enhance efficiency and service delivery in health institutions.

More recently, Japan financed the installation of three modern, energy-efficient medical waste incinerators at major referral hospitals to improve healthcare waste management and environmental protection.

Ambassador Maekawa said Japanese development assistance has also been directed towards infrastructure projects and educational programmes aimed at strengthening Zimbabwe's human capital and supporting long-term economic growth.

As Zimbabwe continues engaging creditors under its arrears clearance and debt resolution strategy, the support of major creditors such as Japan is expected to play a critical role in efforts to restore international financial credibility and attract new investment into the economy.