veri blog

For more than a decade, African governments surfed a global wave of cheap money. From 2007 to 2024, annual sovereign bond issuance in Africa jumped from about US$70 billion to US$350 billion , while the stock of marketable bond debt ballooned from US$160 billion to US$730 billion . Add in domestic borrowing and loans from multilaterals, China and private lenders, and total public debt on the continent has risen more than fourfold to around US$2 trillion . In 2025, the bill is

For years, Senegal was held up as one of West Africa’s “good news” macro stories: steady growth, big infrastructure, a reputation for political stability and reform. Then the numbers changed. In 2024–2025, the new administration revealed billions of dollars in previously undisclosed public borrowing. The IMF now estimates Senegal’s total public sector debt at around 132% of GDP at end-2024 , versus roughly 80% just two years earlier – a jump driven largely by hidden liabiliti

For decades, African finance ministers flew to Washington, London or Beijing when they needed capital. Today, a quiet reversal is underway. According to new data from state-owned investor tracker GlobalSWF, African public institutions now manage close to $1 trillion in assets  – a historic high. That pool sits not in foreign aid budgets, but in: Public pension funds Central bank reserve portfolios Sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) Public development banks and social security inst

Between 2005 and 2025, African economies have experienced significant wealth erosion due to armed conflicts, currency collapses, hyperinflation, and other disruptions. These factors have devalued personal savings and reduced purchasing power across the continent. In this report, we estimate the total monetary loss over this period and compare it to the potential growth had those funds been invested in stable assets like the S&P 500 index, gold, or global real estate funds.

If you work in Africa’s finance world long enough, you start to see the same pattern. Two people. Same salary. Same contribution rate. Same number of years saving. On paper, they’re doing everything “right”. Yet when retirement finally arrives, their outcomes are miles apart. One has a portfolio that still buys real things – school fees, healthcare, travel, dignity. The other has a statement full of big numbers that don’t stretch nearly as far as they should. The difference o

Most investors start at home. It’s familiar: you understand the banks on your high street, the telco you use every day, the government securities your adviser talks about. In many African markets, those local instruments also offer attractive nominal yields. But the last decade has shown how fragile that comfort can be: Currency shocks  can wipe out years of returns when measured in hard currency. Inflation spikes  can quietly erode the real value of cash, deposits and even s

In October 2025, the International Monetary Fund upgraded its growth forecast for sub-Saharan Africa to 4.1 percent , reflecting modest optimism amid persistent headwinds. That figure underscores a region balancing between promising reform momentum and foundational structural risks. Key pressures loom large: rising debt service costs, tightening external financing, inflation pressures, and weak fiscal buffers. During the IMF’s African Department press briefing, Director Abebe

There’s a quiet rebellion brewing in Africa’s finance circles, and it’s aimed squarely at the world’s biggest credit rating agencies—...

In today’s evolving financial landscape, meaningful innovation doesn’t happen in isolation. It happens through partnership —especially...