Is debt restructuring the magic wand for Africa’s problems?
Activists hold placards during a demonstration against poverty and climate change on the first day of the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank Group in Marrakesh, Morocco on October 9, 2023. PHOTO | AFP
Business and Technology Reporter in Nairobi, Kenya
Nation Media Group
The annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank might have returned to Africa after 50 years with good news of projected economic rebound for the continent, but critics say they did little to address the continent’s main problem today – debt.
IMF has indeed predicted that African economies will bounce back to pre-pandemic growth rates next year. But from Marrakesh, only Zambia has come back with debt respite after entering a deal with creditors, including China and France, to restructure its loans, allowing it headroom to deal with its internal challenges.
