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

Five years after missing a US$42.5 million Eurobond coupon and tumbling into default, Zambia has finally clawed its way back into the good graces of at least one major rating agency. On Friday, S&P Global Ratings  lifted Zambia’s long- and short-term foreign-currency ratings to CCC+/C  from selective default (SD) , formally removing the scarlet letter that has hung over the country since 2020. “It confirms that Zambia has moved out of default status and is steadily restoring

Zambia was supposed to be turning the page on its debt crisis. After reaching a landmark agreement in June with private creditors to...

Kenya’s government is once again at a crossroads in its debt journey. This week, news broke that the Treasury is weighing a debt buyback...