The World Bank has projected that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa will pay a staggering amount in interest on their external debts in 2025, underscoring the region’s growing debt burden.

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According to its April 2025 Africa Pulse Report, “Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to pay about US$20 billion in interest on outstanding public and publicly guaranteed (PPG) external debt” next year.

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Of that amount, the Bank noted that “nearly three-quarters is owed to private creditors, and China’s official and private lenders.”

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This heavy debt service obligation reflects a broader trend of rising borrowing costs, especially as the structure of creditors shifts increasingly towards commercial lenders and non-traditional partners.

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Adding to the strain, governments are now repaying more debt than they’re receiving. Since 2016, the Bank observed that “principal repayments on the PPG external debt have increased at a faster pace than disbursements,” contributing to “a sharp decline in net financial flows into the region.”

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In monetary terms, the region’s access to new financing has nearly halved in recent years. “Net external debt flows into Sub-Saharan Africa dropped from an average of US$37.7 billion annually between 2016 and 2019 to US$18.4 billion in 2023.”

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With declining inflows from bondholders and Chinese lenders, the World Bank indicated that “multilateral lending has surged,” now making up “80 percent of the financing flows into the region since the pandemic.”

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The report paints a sobering picture of the region’s debt landscape, where high interest payments are increasingly crowding out critical public investment. While some relief may come through debt restructuring or reprofiling, the World Bank cautioned that the future trajectory of debt servicing remains uncertain. To address this, it recommends that countries continue “liability management operations, improve fiscal balances, and implement growth-enhancing structural reforms.”

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The warning comes amid broader concerns about fiscal sustainability. In many countries, debt servicing has overtaken spending on essential sectors. “Twenty out of 48 Sub-Saharan African nations spent more on debt service than on healthcare and education combined in 2024,” the report stated.

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With interest payments eating up a growing share of government revenues, the path forward will require not just debt relief, but strategic economic planning to avoid worsening vulnerabilities.

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