Global credit rating agency, Fitch Rat-ings, yesterday warned that govern-ment debt burden across sub-Saharan Africa was rising at a faster pace and to higher levels than elsewhere in emerging markets, heightening the risk of further rating downgrades and defaults.
Fitch predicted that the median of government debt-to- Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the 19 sovereigns it rated in the region would rise to 71 per cent by end-2020 from 26 per cent in 2012, while the median debt ratio across other emerging markets is expected to climb to 57 per cent.
Nigeria, Angola, the Repub-lic of Congo and Gabon, the continent’s main oil exporters, have been especially hard hit by the coronavirus crisis, given their high reliance on oil rev-enues for fiscal and external financing, and the dependence of the rest of their economies on crude earnings.
Countries with a concentra-tion on tourism, particularly Cabo Verde and the Seychelles, have also been badly affected, Fitch said