{"id":2708,"date":"2021-12-13T10:37:58","date_gmt":"2021-12-13T08:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org\/news\/?p=2708"},"modified":"2021-12-13T10:37:58","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T08:37:58","slug":"southern-africas-debt-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/southern-africas-debt-conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern Africa\u2019s Debt Conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

This investigative journalism project was necessitated by the growing need to better understand the
\nnature of southern Africa\u2019s debt crisis\u2014with particular reference to Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and
\nZimbabwe. These countries were selected in view of the fiscal solvency of their fragile economies and their vulnerability to a rising debt stock, as well as the wider impact on socio-economic development.
\nThe report provides an overview of the risks and challenges faced by the regional states as they seek a path to debt sustainability. In sub-Saharan Africa, 16 countries are classified as having either a high risk of debt distress or being in debt distress. The average public debt in the region was estimated at 57% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as at the end of 2018. Between 2010 and 2018, the debt payments of developing countries increased by 85%, which sent
\nalarm bells ringing.
\nAlthough borrowing can enhance a nation\u2019s capacity to deliver on socio-economic development, it can also precipitate structural vulnerabilities if the resultant debt burden is not handled prudently. How
\nbest can nations navigate the treacherous road to debt sustainability? In this discourse, it is vital to ask:
\nWhat are these countries borrowing for?
\nWhen a government borrows for investment, the country could face challenges in the short term, but in the medium to long term, as the pay-back from such investment kicks in, sustainability may be secured. However, we must consider the obverse: when a government borrows for consumption, the long-run benefits are sacrificed on the altar of unsustainable consumption and the government will have to secure resources from elsewhere to repay the debt.
\nWe unlock Southern Africa\u2019s Debt Conundrum by tracing the genesis of the debt problem and scrutinising the role of governments and international financial institutions.
\nSouthern Africa, a region endowed with vast natural resources, is now an intriguing theatre of the geopolitics of strategic minerals as China, the United States and Russia are now locked in a scramble for economic opportunities in this part of the world. But from a public debt sustainability perspective, can the regional countries rise to the challenge by taking advantage of the global powers\u2019 renewed interest?
\nThis report uncovers the nexus between unsustainable debt and unsatisfactory delivery of social services, showing how debt is contributing to poverty and economic turmoil. Policy recommendations to enhance debt sustainability are then proffered.The-investigative-report-4-Revised<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This investigative journalism project was necessitated by the growing need to better understand the nature of southern Africa\u2019s debt crisis\u2014with particular reference to Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These countries were selected in view of the fiscal solvency of their fragile economies and their vulnerability to a rising debt stock, as well as the wider […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[271],"tags":[266],"rttpg_featured_image_url":{"full":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false],"landscape":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false],"portraits":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report-250x355.png",106,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report-400x567.png",212,300,true],"large":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false],"trp-custom-language-flag":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",8,12,false],"post-thumbnail":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report-150x213.png",150,213,true],"retina2x":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false],"retina3x":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false],"retina4x":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false],"retina5x":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false],"retina6x":["https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/Investigative-Report.png",416,590,false]},"rttpg_author":{"display_name":"Reda\u00e7\u00e3o CJIMOZ","author_link":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/author\/hcuambe\/"},"rttpg_comment":0,"rttpg_category":"Corrup\u00e7\u00e3o<\/a>","rttpg_excerpt":"This investigative journalism project was necessitated by the growing need to better understand the nature of southern Africa\u2019s debt crisis\u2014with particular reference to Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These countries were selected in view of the fiscal solvency of their fragile economies and their vulnerability to a rising debt stock, as well as the wider…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2708"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2708"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2711,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2708\/revisions\/2711"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjimoz.org.mz\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}