Category: Economy

With 41 of the world's most indebted countries now facing the real prospect of default, a trio of high-level officials at the International Monetary Fund has issued an urgent appeal to the world's major creditors to take action. "Putting in place ...

Zambia's burgeoning debt crisis is once again in the spotlight as stakeholders exchange blame over who's responsible for blocking a comprehensive deal to restructure the country's $17.3 billion of external debt. Anti-poverty activists are accusing BlackRock, the $10 trillion asset management ...

The World Bank has replaced China as Kenya's largest external creditor according to a new Treasury report submitted to parliament this week. Kenya now owes the multilateral lender $10.4 billion compared to $6.9 billion due to Chinese creditors, namely the China ...

By James Sundquist In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, 90 countries have approached the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for some form of economic assistance. As in decades past, a multitude of developing countries appears to need debt relief or restructuring. Yet, while ...

South Africa’s agriculture sector is reeling from China’s decision to ban all imports of products derived from cloven-hoofed animals and their products, following an outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the country. The wool industry is particularly affected, with 80% ...

Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Imran Khan is out, after losing a last-minute no-confidence vote in the country’s parliament on April 9. This follows a dramatic week of maneuvering to avoid the vote, which Khan has blamed on a “foreign conspiracy” of traitors and U.S. officials. The ...

As Sri Lankan society buckles under an economic crisis fueled in part by an enormous debt burden, China is pushing back against allegations that it stranded the desperate country in a ‘debt trap.’ Mass protests took place across Sri Lanka throughout last ...

During the last major Global South debt crisis in the late 1980s, the United States pioneered an initiative that bundled together all of these countries' debts into a bond that would then be re-packaged and sold to investors. These so-called "Brady ...

Chinese loan contracts to African countries are increasingly controversial, raising questions as to how African negotiators can get better deals. One of the world’s foremost experts on Africa-China negotiations, Folashade Soule, recently published a report highlighting how a group of negotiators in Benin bargained with Chinese bodies ...

Throughout the last two years, Kenya has been rattled by reports that its debt to China for the troubled Standard Gauge Railway could lead to the seizure of the Port of Mombasa. Since then this story and the other ‘debt trap’ narratives like it have largely been debunked.

For the second time in a week, the World Bank has raised the alarm about mounting debt in Africa. A new blog post shows that not only has public debt in Southern and Eastern Africa doubled over the last decade, but the proportion of pricy private debt is also ...

The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Russia should be expelled from the Group of 20 (G20) the forum of leading economies that plays a major role in international economic management. She also said U.S. officials may boycott G20 meetings if Russian counterparts show up at upcoming ...