France and UK to co-chair body restructuring Zimbabwe’s $23B debt as country quietly builds crypto framework

France and the United Kingdom have agreed to co-chair a new body tasked with restructuring Zimbabwe’s roughly $23 billion in external debt, according to the southern African nation’s Finance Ministry. It’s one of the most significant steps in a process that’s been grinding forward since late 2022, and it arrives at a curious moment: Zimbabwe is simultaneously building out its first real regulatory framework for crypto. What the debt deal actually looks like The co-chairing arrangement builds on the Structured Dialogue Platform, or SDP, which was launched in December 2022 to create a formal channel between Zimbabwe and its creditors. Those creditors include heavy hitters: the Paris Club, the IMF, the World Bank, and the African Development Bank. More than half of Zimbabwe’s debt arrears are owed to Paris Club creditors alone. Having France co-chair this body is not a coincidence. The restructuring effort has been picking up momentum through multiple rounds of engagement across 2024 and 2025. Zimbabwe secured an IMF staff-monitored program scheduled to begin in early 2026, a prerequisite for any serious debt relief conversation. The government has also made some initial token payment...