Browsing: Africa’s debt

• AfDB asks policymakers to put in place an orderly and predictable way of dealing with Africa’s $824Bn debt pile.
• According to AfDB, Africa’s ballooning external debt reached $824 billion in 2021.
• AfDB president says there is urgent need for increased concessional financing, particularly for low-income countries. 

Africa’s immense economic potential is being undermined by non-transparent resource-backed loans that complicate debt resolution and compromise countries’ future growth, African Development Bank (AfDB) President Dr Akinwumi Adesina has said.

Adesina at the Semafor Africa Summit taking place on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank 2024 Spring Meetings, highlighted the challenges posed by Africa’s ballooning external debt, which reached $824 billion in 2021, with countries dedicating 65 per cent of their GDP to servicing these obligations.

He said the continent would pay $74 billion in debt service payments this year alone, a sharp increase from $17 billion in 2010. “I …

• As national debts grow, many African countries find themselves spending more on debt than on health.
• IMF says the debt ratio in Sub-Saharan Africa surged to 60% from 30% of the countries’ GDP between 2013 and December 2022.
• Kenya is for instance using nearly 60% of its annual revenues on paying debt obligations.

As the Africa debt crisis roils, over half of the countries have found themselves spending more money in servicing their loan obligations than even the amount they have budgeted for health services to their citizens.

This unfolding scenario is further burdening millions of their citizens who have little choice but to shoulder heavy tax burdens to settle mountains of debt.

Prof Danny Bradlow, a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for the Advancement of Scholarship in Pretoria, South Africa, captures the dire situation, stating: “over the  last three years (2019/22), more than 25 African governments allocated …

• Africa’s economic growth in 2024 is expected to be upward with the real GDP projected to grow by 3.2 per cent, up from 2.6 per cent in 2023.
• East Africa, encompassing Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and the DRC, will again power the continent’s growth prospects.
• Despite the projected continental growth, the intelligence unit faces substantial risks, including security threats, political instability, and debt repayment burdens.

Africa’s economic growth 2024

According to the international research unit, Economic Intelligence, Africa is expected to grow at the second-fastest rate among major regions globally in 2024. The unit ranks behind Asia, which China and India will propel.

Except for Sudan and Equatorial Guinea, whose economies appear destined to decline this year, most African governments are predicted to report good growth stories.

The real African GDP is expected to rise by 3.2 per cent in 2024, up from 2.6 per cent in 2023, …

Rwanda’s economy displayed strong growth, with a 9.2 per cent expansion in the first quarter of 2023, following an 8.2 per cent growth in 2022. However, recent floods resulted in loss of life and infrastructure destruction, leading to a projected moderation of momentum to 5.8 per cent in 2023, slightly lower than the pre-disaster forecast of 6.2 per cent.…

Indeed, African governments are reaping a plethora of benefits from the inclusion by international financial markets to broaden the scope of their funding sources, swiftly abandoning foreign aid and traditional multilateral institutions.  

International financial markets have opened a window thereby providing a suitable platform for African governments to borrow, chiefly for capital spending through Eurobonds issuance. However, this opportunity has been watered down by overexploitation through excessive borrowing. Consequently, debt has been accumulating devoid of a meticulous assessment of risks posed and the consequences thereof, such as exchange rates and the real repayment costs for the piling debt.  

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has pinpointed a total of 17 African countries, with outstanding Eurobonds as near or under debt distress. African governments have been borrowing through issuing Eurobonds which are international bonds supplied by a country in a foreign currency, commonly in US dollars and euros which allows them …