Where Credit is Due

In the past one year, I have been working on research for a book tentatively titled, ‘Till Debt Do Us Part’. I hope it will be ready by next year. The book focuses on the rising indebtedness of several African countries (including Nigeria) to China. I am looking at the quantum of loans, projects being financed, repayment plans (where they exist), local sentiment and the implications of the humongous debts for the future of the continent. While I intend to visit a number of African countries when this Covid-19 pandemic makes travelling more convenient, I have learnt a lot in recent days from Gregory Smith’s most revealing book, ‘Where Credit is Due: How Africa’s Debt Can Be a Benefit, Not a Burden’. I thank Adedotun Eyinade, the young man promoting book culture in Nigeria with his bookshop, Roving Heights, for the gift delivered to my office last week.

Smith, a former senior economist at the

World Bank who has worked in Zambia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Ghana, Gabon, China, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Tanzania, and Sierra Leone, brings experience to bear in the book. Borrowing, according to Smith who advocates urgent action by both lenders and borrowers, is a crucial source of financing for governments all over the world. “If they get it wrong, then debt crises can bring progress to a halt. But if it’s done right, investment happens, and conditions improve.”

President Olusegun Obasanjo contributed one of the blurbs and wrote, “Just as debt used wisely is an essential tool for African development, this book is invaluable to understanding its pitfalls and Africa’s policy choices.” It is an apt summation of a book that I will gladly recommend to our economic managers and those who seek to better understand the threats and opportunities of our current circumstance in Nigeria.