Nigeria, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are the biggest West African debtors as they have public debts in the range of $79.5 billion, $21.9 billion and $19.5 billion respectively, according to a report.
This was reported by a leading German market and consumer data provider, Statista stating that governments in the West African region borrowed massively in 2021 closing up in a matter of days.
“As of 2021, the total external public debt in West Africa amounted to around 164 billion dollars. Nigeria and Ghana recorded the highest levels of debt in the region, at approximately 79.54 billion US dollars and 21.91 billion US dollars respectively.
“On the other hand, Gambia and Guinea-Bissau registered the lowest values at 823 million US dollars and 382 million US dollars respectively,” the report partly read.
According to GhanaWeb who published the report, the debt stock of 15 West African nations that were published have been compiled on June 10, 2021, adding that the debts must have increased significantly.
Statista further revealed the countries with their debts as Nigeria – $79.5 billion, Ghana – $21.9 billion, Cote d’Ivoire – $19.5 billion, Senegal $13.7 billion, Mali – $5.1 billion, Guinea – $4.8 billion, Niger Republic – $4.2 billion, Benin Republic – $3.8 billion, Burkina Faso – $3.7 billion, Cape Verde $1.9 billion, Sierra Leone – $1.8 billion, Togo $1.4 billion, Liberia – $1.3 billion, Guinea-Bissau – $382 million and the Gambia – $823 million.