African countries are drowning in debt. 21 countries on the continent are either in debt distress or teetering on the brink of it, while 4 countries (Ghana, Ethiopia, Zambia, and Chad) have defaulted on their loans in the last 5 years.

As a result, public debt has become a subject of critical examination as nations grapple with its far-reaching implications on their economic stability, growth, and development, as thirty-two of the continent’s 54 countries spend more on interest payments than on health, while 25 spend more on debt than on education.

Who does the continent owe? How did we find ourselves in this situation? This latest episode of A Certain Amount of Madness explores the origins of public debt, its colonial roots, to the global financial architecture that sustains its permanent existence on the continent.

Joining us for this discussion are Jason Braganza, a Kenyan Economist with over ten years of experience working on international development in Africa, who currently serves as the executive director of the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD), and Zambian economist Grieve Chelwa who is presently the Chair of the Department of Social Sciences and Associate Professor of Political Economy at The Africa Institute, Global Studies University, and a member of the Papal Commission on the Debt and Development Crisis in the Global South.

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