This is “causing serious fiscal stress with more than one in three countries in or at high risk of debt distress”, Gatete told leaders attending a regional meeting of the Southern African Development Community, at Zimbabwe’s Parliament. “This is also happening when long-term concessional finance, official development assistance and foreign direct investments are declining.”
African countries have over US$1 trillion ($1.32 trillion) in sovereign debt outstanding, with some member states struggling to meet payments, a United Nations agency official said.
Claver Gatete, executive secretary for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, said the continent is facing several challenges in the areas of financing, security and climate change.
