African countries need better systems for tracking public debt and stronger parliamentary scrutiny of government borrowing, said some development experts said on Wednesday.
They spoke at the sixth African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD VI), organised by the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) in Nairobi, Kenya.
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Douglas Bitonda Kigabo, an economic affairs officer with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, stated that governments should publish information covering not only central government debt but also borrowing by sub-national governments and state-owned enterprises.
Government guarantees and other liabilities that could eventually become public obligations should also be disclosed, he said.
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Mr Kigabo said weak laws and regulations, fragmented institutions and inadequate oversight by parliaments and civil society were making it harder to properly manage Africa’s debt.
The World Bank reported in 2025 that more than 75 per cent of low-income countries publish some debt information, but only about a quarter disclose loan-level details on newly contracted debt.
The bank said incomplete disclosure can make it difficult to establish the full extent of a country’s debt obligations.
Lawmakers demand more information
Masenate Molapo, programme manager for Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment at the SADC Parliamentary Forum, explained that parliamentarians must do more to scrutinise government borrowing.
“There has to be accountability. There has to be statistics. There has to be questions asked. Where is the money going? How is the money going to be used?” She said.
She added that the SADC Parliamentary Forum was working with civil society organisations on a model law on public financial management to strengthen parliamentary oversight of government borrowing and spending.
Grieve Chelwa, a professor and Chair of the Department of Social Sciences, said many legislators lacked the technical knowledge needed to examine complex loan agreements.
He said governments sometimes brought borrowing proposals before lawmakers after the projects had already been included in national budgets, making it difficult for parliament to reject them.
“We need to increase capacity amongst legislators on assessing what a good deal looks like from a bad deal,” Mr Chelwa noted.
He also called for citizens to have a greater say in borrowing decisions because they ultimately bear the cost of government debt.
African debt burden
Paul Sikazwe, technical adviser on Debt at the African Union Commission, said about 21 African countries were either at high risk of debt distress or already in debt distress.
He said the continent faced an immediate liquidity shortfall of about $21 billion and would need about $7.5 billion annually over the next decade to refinance maturing debt.
The AU estimates that Africa needs about $1.3 trillion in additional financing each year to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Nigeria’s figures illustrate the pressure facing individual countries.
The Debt Management Office spotlighted Nigeria’s total public debt stood at N159.35 trillion as of 31 March 2026, comprising $51.90 billion in external debt and N63.05 trillion in domestic debt.
The naira value of servicing foreign-currency debt can rise when the local currency weakens, putting additional pressure on government finances.
AU debt framework
The discussions are taking place as African governments begin working on the implementation of the Common African Position on Debt, adopted by African heads of state and government in February.
The framework includes proposals for an African Debt Monitoring Mechanism, a Borrowers’ Club or Platform and a unified African term sheet.
Patrick Ndzana Olomo, acting director of Economic Development, Integration and Trade at the AU Commission, said the framework would have to take account of the different debt positions of individual countries.
He said the COVID-19 pandemic had exposed Africa’s weak position in the international financial system.
Of the $650 billion Special Drawing Rights allocation made by the International Monetary Fund during the pandemic, Africa received less than $40 billion, Mr Olomo said.
“We’ve learned a lesson as a continent that we need to have a financing mechanism of our own,” he stressed.
In his keynote address, Jean-Emmanuel Pondi, a professor of political science and international relations, said African countries needed institutions capable of supporting the implementation of the common position.
“A position without an apparatus is a sentiment with a letterhead,” he said.
Mr Pondi proposed a permanent team of African debt lawyers, economists, auditors and financial experts to support governments dealing with creditors.
He also called for governments to publish details of new loans within 12 months, including the lender, amount borrowed, cost and projects to be financed.
Major projects financed through borrowing, he said, should be independently audited.
Domestic reforms
Horman Chitonge, a professor at the Centre for African Studies at the University of Cape Town, explained that Africa’s debt problems were also linked to the structure of its economies.
African countries, he said, often pay more to borrow because of perceptions of risk and remain heavily dependent on exporting raw materials.
“Why is it that we pay more than others for borrowing the same money?”
“Africa has to learn to make things on this continent,” he said.
He called for investment in transport, energy and digital infrastructure to support production and trade.
Aissata Bah Mwansa of Zambia’s Ministry of Finance and National Planning cautioned against blaming the international financial system for all of Africa’s debt problems.
“We cannot argue for a fairer international system while neglecting our own reforms within our own economies and countries,” she said.
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She cited low domestic savings, limited productive capacity, economic concentration and governance problems among the issues African governments must address.
Stefano Prato of the Society for International Development criticised the influence of international credit-rating agencies on African borrowing costs and backed the proposed African Credit Rating Agency.
He, however, cautioned that creating an African rating agency would not automatically guarantee fairer assessments.
Participants also backed efforts towards a United Nations Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt.
Dube Lang Salishango of Botswana noted that African countries would continue to face debt problems if they failed to change economic structures that leave them dependent on external borrowing.
“If the structure does not change that problem will not go away,” he said.
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