Browsing: Foreign debt in Africa

African Debt, South Africa

Debts are quite effective economic tools when used correctly. However, debts have been seen to hold people and nations accountable over time and space and sometimes push developing countries to the edge of economic crisis. 

In the case of Africa, debt has evolved to become a phenomenon that nations such as South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia battle with every inch of their economic prowess. 

The African Report argued that the number of African countries at risk of debt distress has doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic, but only three of them have opted for debt restructuring.

  • South Africa has been hit with most brutal power outages which hurt the economy significantly
  • Recently, the finance ministry of South Africa stated that it will transfer state energy provide Eskom to government to empower the utility performance
  • South Africa’s debts will peak at just over 71 per cent of gross domestic product this

A three-day regional conference on debt management in sub-Saharan African convened in Uganda this week is expected to conclude into signing a paper to be presented at several forums.

The forums will include the next World Bank spring meeting to highlight governments’ discomfort with some conditions tied to loans.

Uganda’s Ministry of Finance acting director for debt and cash policy management, Maris Wanyera, said the conference will be attended by delegates from 16 countries, under the theme “sustainable public debt management and a strengthened economic growth”

She also said that in light of the ongoing borrowing frenzy by African countries to finance their development agenda, the conference is long overdue.

“The idea is to come up with a strategy; a voice we can use while negotiating some of these loans. Debt [borrowing] is not bad at all, as long as we borrow for the right purposes and negotiate well, but …