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Article: Africa's debt millstone.
- Article from:
- African Business
- Article date:
- October 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 IC Publications Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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In 1993, total African debt (excluding South Africa), reached $285.4bn. This comprised $118.9bn for North Africa and $166.5bn for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These figures represent changes of 3% in the total regional debt, a decline of 0.5% in that of North Africa and a 6% increase in that of SSA, since 1990. In absolute terms these amounts are small. The total debt in 1993 represents only 16% of total developing country debt.
However, the magnitude of what is now generally recognised as the "African debt burden" becomes clearer from the ratios that express the debt in relation to certain key economic variables. Therefore, in 1993 the debt/GDP ratio, which measures ...