Business Insider Africa has listed South Sudan among twenty countries with the highest debt-to-gross domestic product ratio in the continent.
It says South Sudan has a debt-to-GDP ratio of 64.4% as of 2022.
The debt-to-GDP ratio is the metric comparing a country’s public debt to its gross domestic product.
The Business Insider says by comparing what a country owes with what it produces, the debt-to-GDP ratio reliably indicates that particular country’s ability to pay back its debts.
Some of the notable names on the list of countries with the highest debt-to-GDP ratio includes Ghana with 82.3%, Kenya with 69.7%, and Rwanda with 74.8% and South Africa with a ratio of 68.8%.
Others countries on the list includes the Republic of Congo with 85.4%, Eretria with 175.1%, Cab Verde 160.7%, Mozambique 133.6%, and Angola with 103.7% among others.
A recent report by the World Bank showed that more than half of the world’s low-income countries, most of which are in Africa, are either currently struggling with debt distress or at risk of doing so.
The World Bank highlighted three facts that should prompt everyone to get serious with this debt issue.
It says 40% of low-income countries have not published any sovereign debt data for more than two years; and many of those that have published data tend to limit the information to central-government debt and standard debt instruments.
It further says huge discrepancies exist today in publicly available estimates of debt in low-income economies.
The international financial institution says 15 low-income countries today have debt that is collateralized by natural resources—yet none provide details on the collateral arrangements.
The World Bank then stressed that greater debt transparency makes it easier for governments to make informed decisions about future borrowings.
In the same vein, it makes it easier for the citizens to hold their leaders accountable for the loans borrowed.
It said debt transparency helps lenders to assess and determine whether a country’s existing debt stock is sustainable or not and also helps them to efficiently facilitate a debt restructuring process.
Also, Standard Bank Group recently red-flagged Ghana, Kenya Ethiopia, Zambia and Angola as African countries that could soon experience serious debt risks.
Although the exact figures of these countries’ public debts were not disclosed, The Business Insider Africa recommends that countries should take serious issues of debt.