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Back to the Well? Untangling the New Debt Accumulation, COVID 19 and Social Crisis in Africa

The high hopes that the debt forgiveness and rescheduling of the early 2000s would boost the fiscal space in Africa through savings from the high costs of debt servicing is fast disappearing. The post 2008-2009 global financial crises have brought new regime of debt accumulation in Africa. The sharp fall in commodity prices from 2014 affected the major economies like Nigeria, South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe with many of these countries entering recessions in quick successions. According to the International Monetary Fund, at least seventeen countries, representing roughly a quarter of the continent’s GDP, are either at debt distress or high risk of debt distress. From Nigeria to South Africa, debt to GDP ratio has grown dramatically. […]