Sub-Saharan Africa Faces $59.2 Billion Debt Repayments in 2025 as World Bank Cuts Growth View
Updated
Updated · Punch Newspapers · Jun 9
Sub-Saharan Africa Faces $59.2 Billion Debt Repayments in 2025 as World Bank Cuts Growth View
1 articles · Updated · Punch Newspapers · Jun 9
Summary
$59.2 billion in principal external debt repayments is due in 2025, up from $37 billion in 2024, as maturing commercial loans, bond redemptions and resumed payments on restructured debt hit the region.
The World Bank said external public debt service will absorb about 18.2% of government revenue in 2025, up from 15.4% in 2024, leaving fiscal pressure high even as debt stocks stabilize.
Growth is still projected at 4.1% in 2026, unchanged from 2025, but that is 0.3 percentage point below the bank's October 2025 forecast as Middle East tensions, energy costs and weaker investment cloud the outlook.
Roughly half of Sub-Saharan African countries are already in debt distress or at high risk, and the bank warned current growth is too weak to create enough jobs for the more than 620 million people expected to enter the labor force by 2050.
As crushing debt looms, why are global investors pouring a record $97 billion into Sub-Saharan Africa?
Can Africa's green energy revolution create enough jobs for the 620 million youths entering its workforce?
Sub-Saharan Africa’s Debt Trap: How a $2 Trillion Burden Threatens Growth and Human Development (2025–2028)
Overview
Sub-Saharan Africa is facing a rapidly growing debt crisis, with total public debt quadrupling since the early 2000s to reach $2 trillion in 2024 and an average debt-to-GDP ratio of 68.6% in 2023. Domestic debt markets now play a bigger role, but the cost of servicing this debt has become a major burden, draining resources that could support development. External debt service has more than doubled over the past decade, reaching 2% of GDP in 2024. This escalating debt and high servicing costs threaten economic stability and limit the region’s ability to invest in essential public services.