Number: RS21329
Title: African Debt to the United States and Multilateral Agencies
Authors: Jonathan E. Sanford, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division 
Abstract: On the average, African countries owe 46 percent of their foreign debt to official bilateral lenders, 32 percent to multilateral institutions, and 22 percent to private creditors. However, most of their debt payments (57 percent) go to private creditors, while multilateral creditors receive 21 percent and bilateral creditors 22 percent of the total. Little of the bilateral debt is owed to the United States. In recent years, multilateral agencies and bilateral creditors have forgiven substantial amounts of debt. There have been calls for 100 percent forgiveness of multilateral debt. Many analysts suggest, however, that such forgiveness could substantially limit the ability of the multilateral agencies to provide future aid.
Pages: 6
Date: Updated October 4, 2002