- AFRODAD Warns Rising Debt Costs Are Deepening Africa’s Fiscal Vulnerabilities
The African Forum and Network on Debt and Development has urged African journalists and media institutions to intensify scrutiny of public borrowing and debt management, warning that rising financing costs are deepening fiscal vulnerabilities across the continent.
Speaking during the sixth edition of the AFROMEDI initiative in Nairobi, AFRODAD officials said Africa’s debt burden is becoming increasingly unsustainable, with many governments now spending more on debt servicing than on critical sectors such as health, education and infrastructure.
The organisation warned that African economies continue to face disproportionately high borrowing costs, driven by tighter global financial conditions, currency volatility and structural weaknesses in the international financial system.
According to discussions at the forum, commercial debt now accounts for a significantly larger share of Africa’s external liabilities, exposing countries to higher interest rates, shorter maturities and more rigid repayment obligations.
AFRODAD said this shift has increased fiscal pressure on governments already struggling with weak domestic revenue mobilisation, rising social spending needs and limited access to concessional financing.
The organisation also raised concerns about weak transparency around public borrowing, arguing that limited public understanding of debt agreements has made it difficult for citizens to hold governments accountable for fiscal decisions.
It therefore called on the media to play a more active role in simplifying debt-related issues, interrogating borrowing decisions and linking macroeconomic developments to the everyday realities of ordinary Africans.
For AFRODAD, the debt conversation should not remain confined to finance ministries, parliaments and international lenders. It must become a public accountability issue because borrowing decisions shape taxation, public services, inflation, jobs and long-term development prospects.
Catherine Mithia, Policy Officer at AFRODAD, said Africa’s current debt crisis reflects both domestic governance challenges and structural weaknesses within the global financial architecture.
She stressed the need for coordinated African-led reforms, including improved debt transparency, fairer restructuring frameworks and stronger domestic resource mobilisation systems.
The discussions also highlighted concerns over the growing influence of private creditors and credit rating agencies, which AFRODAD believes continue to raise borrowing costs for African states through what it described as an “African risk premium.”
That risk premium, debt campaigners argue, often forces African governments to borrow at significantly higher rates than countries with comparable fundamentals in other regions, worsening debt sustainability and reducing fiscal space for development spending.
For journalists, the challenge is to move beyond reporting headline debt figures and begin asking harder questions: who borrowed, on what terms, for what projects, with what parliamentary oversight, and at what long-term cost to citizens.
Such scrutiny has become more urgent as several African countries face difficult trade-offs between servicing debt and financing essential public investments.
AFROMEDI VI, which brought together journalists from across the continent, forms part of broader efforts to strengthen media engagement on fiscal governance, debt justice and socio-economic accountability in Africa.
The initiative seeks to equip journalists with the tools to understand debt instruments, interrogate public finance decisions and explain complex fiscal issues in ways citizens can understand.
AFRODAD’s message is clear: Africa’s debt crisis is not only a technical problem. It is a governance, transparency and accountability challenge.
As borrowing costs rise and debt service consumes more public revenue, the media’s role in scrutinising debt decisions will become increasingly central to protecting citizens and strengthening fiscal democracy across the continent.
