African Development Bank President Calls for Transparency in Resource-Backed Loans to Africa
Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, AFDB, voiced concern over non-transparent resource-backed loans, stating they hinder economic growth in Nigeria and other African nations.
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Speaking at the Semafor Africa Summit during the International Monetary Fund and World Bank 2024 Spring Meetings, Adesina highlighted Africa’s growing external debt, which hit $824 billion in 2021. He noted that servicing these obligations consumes 65% of the continent’s GDP, with debt service payments reaching $74 billion this year, up from $17 billion in 2010.
While acknowledging fiscal pressures from the COVID-19 pandemic, infrastructure needs, and rising inflation, Adesina stressed the importance of addressing structural issues in Africa’s debt landscape.
“I think it is time for us to have debt transparency accountability and make sure that this whole thing of these opaque natural resource-backed loans ends because it complicates the debt issue and the debt resolution issue,” Adesina said.
