| Country | Public debt, % of GDP · 2025 ↓ | Risk of debt distress (IMF) | External debt | Owed to China | Owed to bond holders | Debt service, % of exports |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sudan | 204.4 % | In debt distress 2021 | 24.2 bn$ 2025 | 8.6 % | 0.0 % | 4.5 % 2024 |
| Libya | 153.8 % | Not assessed | — | — | — | — |
| Senegal | 127.7 % | Moderate 2023 | 45.4 bn$ 2025 | 7.5 % | 19.2 % | 16.7 % 2023 |
| Cabo Verde | 115.4 % | Moderate 2026 | 2.7 bn$ 2025 | 0.9 % | 0.0 % | 10.7 % 2024 |
| Zambia | 100.6 % | High 2026 | 28.6 bn$ 2025 | 24.4 % | 16.1 % | 5.4 % 2024 |
| Republic of the Congo | 100.4 % | In debt distress 2025 | 7.7 bn$ 2025 | 24.4 % | 16.6 % | 6.3 % 2021 |
| Malawi | 96.6 % | In debt distress 2025 | 4.0 bn$ 2025 | 6.6 % | 0.0 % | 7.8 % 2024 |
| Mozambique | 90.3 % | High 2026 | 74.4 bn$ 2025 | 14.4 % | 9.7 % | 9.7 % 2024 |
| Mauritius | 86.8 % | Not assessed | 22.5 bn$ 2025 | 3.2 % | 0.4 % | 5.2 % 2024 |
| Egypt | 86.8 % | Not assessed | 164.3 bn$ 2025 | 4.2 % | 25.3 % | 36.2 % 2024 |
| Gabon | 84.2 % | Not assessed | 7.9 bn$ 2025 | 12.4 % | 31.1 % | 8.5 % 2015 |
| Tunisia | 81.7 % | Not assessed | 41.5 bn$ 2025 | 0.2 % | 7.5 % | 16.2 % 2024 |
| South Africa | 78.4 % | Not assessed | 206.3 bn$ 2025 | 1.7 % | 80.5 % | 6.5 % 2024 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 75.1 % | High 2025 | 1.5 bn$ 2025 | 0.0 % | 35.4 % | 8.7 % 2024 |
| The Gambia | 73.7 % | High 2025 | 1.8 bn$ 2025 | 2.3 % | 0.0 % | 5.2 % 2024 |
| Kenya | 71.3 % | High 2024 | 46.3 bn$ 2025 | 12.7 % | 22.7 % | 25.7 % 2024 |
| Namibia | 67.5 % | Not assessed | — | — | — | — |
| Morocco | 66.6 % | Not assessed | 80.5 bn$ 2025 | 0.5 % | 31.2 % | 8.8 % 2024 |
| Togo | 64.9 % | Moderate 2025 | 5.7 bn$ 2025 | 8.8 % | 0.0 % | 4.4 % 2020 |
| Rwanda | 64.7 % | Moderate 2025 | 14.5 bn$ 2025 | 4.1 % | 6.8 % | 5.7 % 2024 |
| South Sudan | 64.2 % | High 2024 | — | — | — | — |
| Benin | 59.3 % | Moderate 2025 | 16.9 bn$ 2025 | 2.6 % | 24.6 % | 15.7 % 2023 |
| São Tomé and Príncipe | 59.1 % | In debt distress 2025 | 376 m$ 2025 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 2.0 % 2024 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 57.1 % | Moderate 2026 | 45.3 bn$ 2025 | 10.0 % | 36.4 % | 19.0 % 2024 |
| Liberia | 55.1 % | Moderate 2025 | 2.5 bn$ 2025 | 2.8 % | 0.0 % | 2.4 % 2024 |
| Uganda | 53.2 % | Moderate 2026 | 23.9 bn$ 2025 | 13.5 % | 16.2 % | 11.3 % 2024 |
| Burkina Faso | 53.2 % | Moderate 2026 | 11.3 bn$ 2025 | 1.4 % | 0.0 % | 4.2 % 2024 |
| Angola | 52.9 % | Not assessed | 63.7 bn$ 2025 | 4.1 % | 20.7 % | 26.2 % 2024 |
| Algeria | 52.1 % | Not assessed | 7.7 bn$ 2025 | 8.1 % | 0.0 % | 0.2 % 2024 |
| Sierra Leone | 51.4 % | High 2026 | 2.4 bn$ 2025 | 3.6 % | 0.0 % | 4.2 % 2024 |
| Seychelles | 51.2 % | Not assessed | — | — | — | — |
| Tanzania | 49.8 % | Moderate 2025 | 38.7 bn$ 2025 | 4.9 % | 0.0 % | 11.2 % 2024 |
| Lesotho | 49.4 % | Moderate 2025 | 2.0 bn$ 2025 | 16.2 % | 0.0 % | 4.8 % 2024 |
| Ghana | 48.8 % | High 2025 | 38.8 bn$ 2025 | 6.2 % | 33.8 % | 2.9 % 2024 |
| Madagascar | 47.7 % | Moderate 2025 | 7.8 bn$ 2025 | 5.6 % | 0.0 % | 4.7 % 2024 |
| Niger | 45.5 % | High 2026 | 6.4 bn$ 2025 | 2.8 % | 0.0 % | 17.5 % 2024 |
| Eswatini | 44.8 % | Not assessed | 1.6 bn$ 2025 | 17.7 % | 6.0 % | 3.5 % 2024 |
| Ethiopia | 43.3 % | In debt distress 2026 | 40.0 bn$ 2025 | 16.8 % | 2.8 % | 8.1 % 2024 |
| Central African Republic | 42.6 % | High 2025 | 1.1 bn$ 2025 | 4.3 % | 0.0 % | — |
| Burundi | 42.0 % | High 2023 | 1.0 bn$ 2025 | 5.8 % | 0.0 % | 5.5 % 2024 |
| Cameroon | 40.5 % | High 2025 | 17.6 bn$ 2025 | 20.6 % | 9.5 % | 15.8 % 2024 |
| Mauritania | 40.4 % | Moderate 2026 | 4.6 bn$ 2025 | 6.2 % | 0.0 % | 8.7 % 2024 |
| Mali | 40.3 % | Moderate 2025 | 7.3 bn$ 2025 | 7.9 % | 0.0 % | 4.9 % 2024 |
| Zimbabwe | 38.0 % | In debt distress 2025 | 16.0 bn$ 2025 | 32.5 % | 0.0 % | 1.1 % 2024 |
| Guinea | 36.3 % | Moderate 2024 | 6.5 bn$ 2025 | 20.7 % | 0.0 % | 2.8 % 2024 |
| Nigeria | 36.1 % | Not assessed | 145.0 bn$ 2025 | 10.0 % | 34.1 % | 6.3 % 2024 |
| Equatorial Guinea | 35.4 % | Not assessed | 1.1 bn$ 2025 | 89.6 % | 0.0 % | — |
| Botswana | 34.0 % | Not assessed | 2.5 bn$ 2025 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | 4.3 % 2024 |
| Chad | 33.3 % | High 2025 | 3.5 bn$ 2025 | 9.0 % | 0.0 % | — |
| Djibouti | 31.3 % | In debt distress 2025 | 3.8 bn$ 2025 | 48.1 % | 0.0 % | 2.0 % 2024 |
| Comoros | 30.5 % | High 2026 | 445 m$ 2025 | 23.3 % | 0.0 % | 6.4 % 2023 |
| DR Congo | 20.4 % | Moderate 2025 | 15.3 bn$ 2025 | 38.0 % | 0.0 % | 1.1 % 2024 |
| Eritrea | — | Not assessed | 720 m$ 2025 | 0.5 % | 0.0 % | — |
| Somalia | — | Moderate 2025 | 1.8 bn$ 2025 | 0.0 % | 0.0 % | — |
Public debt: IMF, World Economic Outlook, gross debt of the general government, % of GDP
Risk of debt distress: IMF, list of debt sustainability analyses of low-income countries, as of 2026-03-31 · only countries eligible for the IMF's concessional lending are assessed · imf.org
External debt, creditors and service: World Bank, International Debt Statistics and World Development Indicators (updated 2026-11-05), CC BY 4.0 · shares of the public and publicly guaranteed external debt: Syli Atlas calculation · the World Bank does not cover high-income countries such as Seychelles
In short
In 2025, the median public debt of African countries is 53.2 % of GDP (IMF); 16 of 52 countries are above 70 %. China holds a median 6.4 % of their public external debt (World Bank).