Ghana dropped one place to the 5^th position in Africa with the highest outstanding debt to the International Monetary Fund as of January 22, 2025, a report from the Fund has revealed.

The country’s total indebtedness to the IMF stood at 2.514 billion Special Drawing Rights, equivalent to $3.293 billion.

Egypt retained its first position in Africa, owing the IMF SDR 8.666 billion.

Kenya and Angola followed it in second and third positions. They were indebted to the Fund to the tune of SDR 3.022 billion and SDR 2.900 billion respectively.

Meanwhile, Nigeria and Morocco continued to be out of the top ten.

Africa’s external debt has grown substantially during the last decade, reaching a record level of $656 billion in 2022.

This was due to reduced export revenues and slow economic growth. For instance, the continent’s growth rate in 2022 was estimated at 3.5%, but still lower than the pre-pandemic average of 4.5%.

The growth forecast remains subdued, with a slight increase from an average of 3.3% in 2023 to 3.5% in 2024,” the Unpacking Africa’s Debt report by the UN, stated.