Browsing: Foreign Debts in East Africa

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 …

Debt across East Africa continues to grow with Kenya’s risk of debts increasing from low to moderate.

Burundi has also joined a group of nine African countries with a high risk of debt distress. According to a US-based research firm, Brookings Institution, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania rank among the top 50 countries in the world that are highly indebted to China.

According to the report, such countries are now shifting away from official multilateral creditors to non-concessional, (commercial) debt with relatively higher interest rates and lower maturities.

This has caused the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to raise a red flag over the rate at which East African countries are accumulating debt. Raising concerns about debts sustainability, the risk of higher refinancing of the debts and foreign exchange risks.

East African economies have fallen into a financial fix as they attempt to fund persistent budget deficits and implementing mega infrastructure projects …