According to a recent Fitch report, there has been a marked increase in the number of default events among sovereigns, with 14 defaults across nine different countries since 2020, compared to 19 across 13 countries between 2000 and 2019. Five Fitch-rated sovereigns are in default: Belarus, Lebanon, Ghana, Sri Lanka, and Zambia, while eight sovereigns are rated CCC+ or below and nine at B-. The pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have impacted frontier markets with limited buffers, resulting in a slower resolution of the average sovereign default, which takes 107 days, compared to 35 days for all defaults since 2000. Slow restructurings are costly for both debtors and creditors.