Zambia’s economy will expand at least 6% this year as Africa’s second-largest copper producer reaps the benefit of improved rainfall and higher metal production, the finance minister said.

Growth will accelerate to what would be the highest since 2021, Situmbeko Musokotwane said in an interview on Monday. The economy grew by about 4% last year.

The nation is emerging from a bruising, years-long debt restructuring process, and higher growth increases the probability of a bigger payout for creditors including bondholders. Zambia’s economy is bouncing back from a historic drought that last year decimated crops and drained hydroelectric dams.

The harvest for the staple corn crop and copper production are poised to increase to a record.

Musokotwane is “confident that we will get to that 6%,” he said in Livingstone, the Zambian town closest to Victoria Falls. “We just need to maintain this for 10, 15 years — positive growth every year. I think people will begin to see that it’s not a certainty that you are born in poverty and you will end in poverty. Things can change.”

Inflation has started to slow, and its currency, the kwacha, is Africa’s second-best performer against the dollar this year, after a sharp rally last week. It’s appreciated 12% in 2025.

The International Monetary Fund is less optimistic, forecasting economic growth at 5.8%. The Washington-based lender warned that higher-than-expected debt-servicing costs have required the government to revise its 2025 budget to include additional revenue measures, it said in a statement later on Monday.

Musokotwane spoke at the sidelines of Bloomberg’s annual Africa Business Media Innovators conference.