Eritrea News: Qatar Bank Asks U.S. Court to Enforce $300 Million Debt Ruling - Bloomberg
Qatar National Bank QPSC, the Middle East’s biggest lender, asked a U.S. court to order Eritrea to pay nearly $300 million of debt after the Horn of Africa nation refused to participate in two lawsuits.
The Doha-based bank requested a judgment by default from a federal court in Washington on Friday after Eritrea failed to respond to the bank’s claim seeking to enforce a U.K. ruling in 2019. QNB alleges that President Isaias Afwerki’s government went to drastic lengths to avoid being served with key documents.
A decision in its favor will help the Qatari bank identify and seize Eritrea’s overseas assets, according to the complaint it filed in the U.S. court in February. The legal battle may further discourage investment in the African country, which currently stands second from last among 190 economies in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business rankings.
The quarrel centers on $200 million that Eritrea borrowed from QNB in 2009 and 2010. The bank claims Afwerki’s government reneged on the debt in May 2012 after repaying about $45 million. That prompted the lender in 2018 to seek legal recourse in the U.K., as permitted under the loan agreement. The following year a judge directed Eritrea to pay its creditor $253 million plus interest.
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