Africa's debt problem: measurement, management and development implications: a technical paper

Abstract

The problem of. Africa's mounting external debt and heavy debt services burden has been identified as a major obstacle to Africa's effort at economic recovery and accelerated development. The problem is particularly serious because of the sharp decrease in Africa's export earnings in recent years, as a result of the continuing low prices of primary commodities, the decline in resource flows to Africa especially on confessional terms and the low capacities for domestic savings mobilization. A special Conference of African Ministers of Finance was convened in June 1984 to address this problem. It adopted the Addis Ababa Declaration on Africa's External Indebtedness which was later endorsed by the African Heads of State and Government.