Africa faces a mounting debt crisis

A year ago Ghana’s finance minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, eschewed talk that his country would need a bail-out from the IMF. Ghana had at that point been in and out of 16 IMF programmes since attaining independence in 1957. “We have forgotten how difficult and tenacious that master from Washington was,” he said.

Yet now Ghana is entering a $3bn, three-year programme. The IMF’s board approved it on May 17th, based on assurances from Ghana’s bilateral creditors, including China, that they will restructure its debt. Ghana will get a first tranche of $600m immediately, though further infusions will probably require progress on cutting its debt burden. Zambia, which like Ghana is in default on its sovereign loans, has struggled to agree to detailed terms for restructuring its debt. But it hopes to achieve a deal next month.