| 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 |
| Mauritius | 86.8 % | Not assessed | 22.5 bn$ 2025 | 3.2 % | 0.4 % | 5.2 % 2024 |
| Kenya | 71.3 % | High 2024 | 46.3 bn$ 2025 | 12.7 % | 22.7 % | 25.7 % 2024 |
| Rwanda | 64.7 % | Moderate 2025 | 14.5 bn$ 2025 | 4.1 % | 6.8 % | 5.7 % 2024 |
| South Sudan | 64.2 % | High 2024 | — | — | — | — |
| Uganda | 53.2 % | Moderate 2026 | 23.9 bn$ 2025 | 13.5 % | 16.2 % | 11.3 % 2024 |
| Seychelles | 51.2 % | Not assessed | — | — | — | — |
| Tanzania | 49.8 % | Moderate 2025 | 38.7 bn$ 2025 | 4.9 % | 0.0 % | 11.2 % 2024 |
| Madagascar | 47.7 % | Moderate 2025 | 7.8 bn$ 2025 | 5.6 % | 0.0 % | 4.7 % 2024 |
| Ethiopia | 43.3 % | In debt distress 2026 | 40.0 bn$ 2025 | 16.8 % | 2.8 % | 8.1 % 2024 |
| 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 |
| 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).