Kenya’s Spiraling Debt Crisis Worsens as the Cost of Chinese Loans Mount, Currency Weakens and Exports Soften

Yasuyoshi CHIBA / AFP

Kenya is rapidly becoming the next flashpoint in the Africa debt crisis amid a dramatic increase in borrowing that threatens to submerge the economy.

The Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) warned on Friday that the country’s ballooning debt is forecast to increase by 15% next year to a record $69 billion or Sh7.5 trillion. If borrowing continues at the current pace, the PBO report said the debt could go as high as $84 billion the following year.

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by Eric Olander

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