It Hasn’t been Easy for Africa to Finance its Developmental and Environmental Policy Goals

Many African countries continue to face challenging sovereign debt situations. Recent events suggest that the situation may be improving. For the first time in two years, three African states have been able to access international financial markets, albeit at high interest rates. Kenya, for example, is now paying over 10% compared to about 7% in 2014. Total external debts as a share of Africa’s export earnings increased from 74.5% in 2010 to 140% in 2022. In 2022, African governments had to allocate about 12% of their revenues to servicing their debt. Between 2019 and 2022, 25 African governments allocated more resources to servicing their total debts than to the health of their citizens. And in late 2023 the International Monetary Fund estimated that over half the low income African countries were either potentially or actually experiencing difficulties paying their debts.

THE CONVERSATION