A recent research study indicated that the escalation of the crisis in Ukraine affected the ability of African countries to pay their debts and caused structural financial problems in the 22 sub-Saharan African countries with the lowest incomes ever, especially countries that are indebted to China.
The study issued by the World Bank on debt Markets in the African Continent which indicated that Africa was an actual destination for 12% of Chinese international lending operations for the private and public sectors, and that the total Chinese loans to the countries of the African continent had multiplied by about five times in the period from 2000 to 2020 to $696 billion.
According to the World Bank research study, the Republic of Angola came in the top of the list among nine other African countries with the highest debt from China.
Angola debts to China in total, $42.916 billion as of March 2023.
Ethiopia came in second place, with total debt to China, $13.728 billion.
Zambia ranked third with a total of $13.848 billion, followed by Kenya in fourth place, with a total debt to China estimated at $9.175 billion.
Nigeria ranked fifth with total debts to China $6.732 billion, followed by Cameroon in sixth place, with total debts of $6.702 billion.
At seventh place, came Sudan with debt of $6.169 billion, then Congo with $5.308 billion.
Ghana came ninth, with a total debt to China of $5.308 billion, then Cote d’Ivoire at the tenth place with debt of $3.722 billion.
Experts says that, due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, there are strong projections that 23 African countries are facing bankruptcy with the exacerbation of the sovereign debt crisis.
A report issued by Interregional Strategic Analyzes indicated that the Russian-Ukrainian war caused several economic repercussions on the global economy, manifested in slowing growth, rising food prices, and affecting trade, supply chains, and financial transfers, especially in Ukraine’s neighboring countries.
The International Monetary Fund sought to support a number of emerging countries suffering from major economic crises, especially those heavily indebted and which witnessed a decline in growth for internal and external reasons.
The report pointed out that the International Monetary Fund realized the magnitude of the economic challenge caused by the Russian-Ukrainian crisis, which prompted it to push for a 15-month crisis response package worth approximately $170 billion to cover the period from April 2022 to June 2023.
