IMF Director Says Africa Needs More Loans to Fix Debt Problem

Shipping containers sit beside railway lines running into the port in Mombasa, Kenya, on Sept. 1, 2018. Luis Tato/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In a speech released on April 6 to be delivered at the 2023 Spring Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group in Washington, IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva acknowledged that Africa is facing a “tremendous financial crunch” and is “being held back by unsustainable debt built over the years.” However, her solution to the problem isn’t without contradictions.

Georgieva’s proposed solution to Africa’s debt problem “is to call on countries in strong financial positions to give back some of their Special Drawing Rights [to the IMF], so that the firm can lend to African countries at concessional rates.”