Africa’s rising debt How to avoid a new crisis
- Shakira Mustapha and Annalisa Prizzon
- Oct 2018
- Overseas Developemnt Institute (ODI)
- International
The briefing paper offers policymakers and practitioners an overview of the risks faced by sub-saharan African countries as they try to keep their debt on a sustainable track, particularly the challenges relating to relatively new sources of finance. Based on this evidence, critical reforms are recommended to borrowers and lenders to ease vulnerabilities and build resilience into debt management. While strong economic growth and sound macroeconomic management matter to debt sustainability, this briefing paper focuses on selected reforms to deal directly with debt vulnerabilities, such as building the capacity of borrowing countries to manage their debt responsibly, enhancing transparency across borrowers and lenders, and developing state-contingent debt instruments (SCDIs).
