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The African Development Bank Group has launched training initiatives to support 22 transitioning or fragile African countries in effectively handling their debt.
The programme, part of the Public Finance Management Academy for Africa, aims to provide tailored policy dialogue on sustainable debt management for the continent's most vulnerable countries.
The goal is to enhance institutional capacity for better debt management and financial resilience for development.
Ethiopia’s Minister of State of Finance and Economic Cooperation, Semereta Sewasew, acknowledged the persistent challenges faced by these countries and expressed appreciation for the AfDB's efforts in strengthening their debt management capacity.
She also pledged ongoing support for the bank's programmes aimed at improving debt management, transparency, and sustainability across the continent.
The Deputy Director General for East Africa and the Director-General designate for Nigeria at the AfDB, Abdul Kamara, stated that the training formed part of the bank's special project – ‘Strengthening the Capacity of Transition States for Effective Management and Mitigation of Debt Distress Risks’.
He mentioned that the project would run from April 2023 to March 2026, focusing on 22 transition countries in Africa under the bank’s transition support facility.
Kamara expressed confidence in the collective ability to make a positive impact on their respective countries.
He anticipated that by the end of the two-day training, participants would have gained an understanding of tailored best-practice solutions for their specific debt management circumstances.
The Director of the African Development Institute, Eric Ogunleye, emphasized that African transition countries should not simply be borrowers but rather empowered to responsibly acquire, negotiate, and utilize loans to enhance the well-being of their citizens.
The challenge of public debt vulnerability in Africa persists, with 38 out of 54 African countries classified as low-income countries experiencing various levels of debt distress, and 23 of them being transition states according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
