Over 32 African countries on high risk of debt distress

MORE than 32 African countries are on high risk of debt distress, a development which has led to many governments concentrating more on servicing their debt while depriving social spending.

Africa's total debt has increased to US$1.31 trillion in 2024 from US$238 billion in 2000.

This came to light at the fourth edition of the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) Media Initiative (AFROMedi IV) in Abidjan yesterday.

The initiative is being held under the theme: "Empowering Media Towards and Impactful African Debt Campaign."

AFRODAD Executive Director, Jason Braganza, regretted that African countries had continued to be victims of debt, with over 32 on high risk of debt distress.

Mr Braganza, in a virtual address to participants said this was almost half a continent falling into debt distress.

"Countries are now concentrating more on paying off private creditors and public debt as opposed to spending on social sectors," he said.

On the training, Mr Braganza pointed out the need for participants to be equipped with knowledge on how to interrogate debt from their governments.

The meeting, he said, was meant to empower journalists from across Africa to assist them play their role in supporting accountability.

And AFRODAD Campaigns and Communication Manager, Fidelite Nshimiyimana, noted that over 600 journalists from across Africa have been trained under the AFROMedi initiative from the time it started in 2021.

Ms Nshimiyimana explained that the initiative was also meant to push journalists to ensure they had skills needed to write on debt.

"For this initiative, we have over 50 journalists who will be trained. We want to give you a platform to question and understand complex issues to do with debt. Take and make use of this work," she said.

AFROMedi seeks to build media’s reporting capacity on debt issues and in turn they gain increased capacity to shape the public debate and putting pressure on policymakers to answer to the call of transparency, accountability, and good governance.

Participants for this year were drawn from 36 African countries including Zambia, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Gabon.

Others are Gambia, Ghana, Guinea - Conakry, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda and Zimbabwe.