Report of the regional ministerial meeting on Africa's external indebtedness

Abstract

The Regional Ministerial Meeting on Africa's External Indebtedness was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 18 to 20 June 1984. The ministerial meeting on the external indebtedness of African countries was the sixth in the series of ministerial meetings convened since the beginning of the year to examine the deteriorating economic situation in Africa, which was caused mainly by the ever worsening global economic crisis. It was in that context that Africa's external debt problem should be viewed, not only in terms of the magnitudes of total external debt but more in terms of the high cost of debt servicing which was a serious drain of Africa's foreign exchange resources, in addition to the rising import bill for food.