Africa must finance conservation future before debt buries it

Debt

Africa now accounts for 52 percent of the world’s most heavily indebted countries.

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A sobering reality emerges as African governments get ready to present their national budgets in the upcoming weeks: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) states that Africa now accounts for 52 percent of the world’s most heavily indebted countries.

From Egypt to Ghana, from Kenya to Angola, mounting debt obligations are shrinking the continent’s fiscal space at a time when environmental and climate threats are accelerating.