Equatorial Guinea, Botswana and Chad topped the list of sub-Saharan African countries with the lowest external debt-to-GDP ratios in 2024, according to the International Monetary Fund.
Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo also made the top five on the list, which does not include Zambia and Eritrea due to a lack of data.
Sputnik Africa has compiled the top 10 sub-Saharan African countries in terms of lightness of debt burden:
Country | External debt (% of GDP) | |
1 | Equatorial Guinea | 8.23 |
2 | Botswana | 9.16 |
3 | Chad | 13.07 |
4 | Ethiopia | 13.89 |
5 | DR Congo | 16.82 |
6 | Namibia | 17.21 |
7 | Mauritius | 17.47 |
8 | Nigeria | 18 |
9 | Guinea | 18.08 |
10 | Zimbabwe | 20.38 |
At the other end of the scale were Cape Verde with a score of 93.25, Mozambique (65.54), and Rwanda (60.19).
Other countries in the top five sub-Saharan African countries in terms of debt burden are Angola and Lesotho, with debt-to-GDP ratios of 52.91 and 46.8, respectively.
External debt relief is one of the main themes in the economic rhetoric of African leaders.
Speaking at the International Development Association (IDA) summit in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi on April 29, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan called on the World Bank to focus on providing concessional loans to free countries from debt, noting that African countries continue to face multiple crises.
The President of Kenya, William Ruto, voiced similar sentiment, noting that African economies face a "deepening development and debt crisis that threatens our economic stability."
Late last year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed criticized the global financial system, saying no country could successfully tackle global challenges such as the climate crisis if debt was a burden.