…analysts say Nigeria’s debt too expensiveNigeria spent 86 per cent of its revenue on servicing debt in 2021, but South Africa spent only 20 per cent of its receipts on the same purpose, according to findings by The PUNCH. According to the International Monetary Fund’s 2021 Article IV estimates, Africa’s most populous nation spent 85.5 per cent of its revenue on servicing the debt in 2021. Nigeria’s total debt by end of December 2021 was only 30 per cent of South Africa’s debt, yet the former’s debt service appears too expensive, according to analysts. Nigeria’s total debt as at December 2021 was $94.166bn, according to the Debt Management Office, but South Africa’s total debt at the same period was $261bn, according to the country’s National Treasury and Bloomberg. Another major reason for Nigeria’s high debt service-to-revenue is its low revenue generation.

Source: Punch May 16, 2022 09:07 UTC