February 22
Africa: Africa's Debt Crisis Needs a Bold New Approach - Expert
It hasn't been easy for African states to finance their developmental and environmental policy objectives over the past few years. Read more »
January 31
Africa: African Countries Are Struggling With High Debt, Demands to Spend More and Collapsing Currencies
Highly indebted African countries are facing stark trade-offs between servicing expensive debt, supporting high and growing development needs, and stabilising domestic currencies. Read more »
November 28, 2023
Zambia: Zambia's Foreign Debt Tragedy - What Needs to Happen to Resolve the Crisis
Three years after defaulting on its foreign debt, Zambia is still trying to reach agreement with all its creditors on how to manage this situation. This has left the southern… Read more »
June 12, 2023
Kenya: Kenya's First Budget Under Ruto - Three Experts Review Its Key Points
President William Ruto's first budget comes to the national assembly on 15 June against the backdrop of massive public debt and public disquiet over high inflation. The KSh3.663… Read more »
May 25, 2023
Nigeria: President-Elect Tinubu Inherits Nigeria's High Debt - Economist Analysis
As the 16th president of Nigeria, Bola Ahmed Tinubu inherits an economy that is grappling with inflation, chronic unemployment, extreme poverty, crumbling infrastructure and… Read more »
April 17, 2023
Africa: Debt Dangers in Africa - How Defaults Hurt People, and Why Forgiveness Isn't the Answer
Public debt repayments in some African countries are at their highest levels since 1998. The Conversation Africa's founding editor Caroline Southey talks to dean and economics… Read more »
February 08, 2023
Kenya: Kenya's President Wants Taxes to Replace Foreign Debt - Seven Ways to Get There
In the run-up to Kenya's 2022 polls, economic issues, particularly public debt and joblessness, took centre stage. The Kenya Kwanza team led by William Ruto suggested that Kenya… Read more »
January 25, 2023
Ghana: Domestic Debt Restructuring Has Stalled - Four Reasons Why
Ghana is facing multiple financial and economic challenges and has requested a US$3 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to help it restore macroeconomic… Read more »
January 11, 2023
Africa: Chinese Workers On Africa's Infrastructure Projects - the Link With Host Political Regimes
China has rapidly become Africa's most important infrastructure builder, and the footprint of Chinese construction companies is seen in cities, towns and villages across the… Read more »
December 09, 2022
Africa: African Debt - How to Break Unequal Relationships in Financing Deals
Africa is facing some impossibly difficult choices when it comes to financing its development. Countries need hundreds of billions of dollars each year to meet their climate,… Read more »
October 31, 2022
Africa: How Debt-for-Climate Swaps Can Help Solve Low-Income Countries' Fiscal and Environmental Challenges At the Same Time
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley spoke passionately to the United Nations General Assembly in September about the mounting debt many developing countries are shouldering… Read more »
October 25, 2022
Kenya: Kenya's Big Railway Project Makes Life Even Harder for the Poor By Ignoring Their Reality
People's responses to large infrastructure projects - railways, bridges, highways - are rarely neutral. To some, these projects represent powerful social and political promises of… Read more »
October 10, 2022
Ghana: Debt Restructuring Must Go Hand-in-Hand With Managing Finances Better
Ghana is struggling with managing its debt, 20-year high inflation, a weak currency, and rising inequality. For example, inflation rose to 33.9% in August 2022 from 9.7% a year… Read more »
September 21, 2022
Kenya: Kenya Has Breached Its Public Debt Ceiling - How It Got There and What That Means
Kenya's newly elected president, William Ruto, has earned more legal space to borrow for his grandiose economic plan after parliament recently raised the country's public debt… Read more »
August 31, 2022
Africa: China Has Waived the Debt of Some African Countries. But It's Not About Refinancing
In mid-August, China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs surprised the world with a series of announcements. Wang Yi, Beijing's most senior diplomat, promised extensive debt relief for… Read more »
August 10, 2022
Africa: When the IMF Comes to Town - Why They Visit and What to Watch Out For
In most rich countries the news that a mission from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) is coming to visit is met with indifference. But, in most African countries the news can… Read more »
June 22, 2022
Africa: Triple Punch of Shocks Threatens to Upend Debt Sustainability and Recovery
Food and fuel price increases and the aftermath of the COVID pandemic are really just the start of the story when it comes to fiscal shocks which have exacerbated government debt… Read more »
May 30, 2022
Ghana: Ghana's Debt - the Pros and Cons of Borrowing Abroad Versus At Home
A government which decides to borrow - either because it has programmed a budget deficit or needs to refinance maturing debts - faces two, non-mutually exclusive possibilities:… Read more »
May 11, 2022
Southern Africa: Soverign Debt Distress - Biggest Problems, and Ways Forward
The COVID pandemic has had a profoundly negative impact on Africa's sovereign debt situation. Currently, 22 countries are either in debt distress or at high risk of debt distress.… Read more »