Between the market and charity

Although tracing the history of debt in sub-Saharan African countries is a challenge, given the heterogeneity of the countries and the information available, this article proposes an approach based on four main historical sequences. A particular form of public financing, based on grants and low-interest loans, was set up after independence. But the “recycling of petrodollars” by private banks led to rapid indebtedness. After 1980, concessional financing took over without proving capable of stopping the spiral of overindebtedness and, after considerable procrastination, creditors granted increasingly large debt reductions between 1989 and 2005. Finally, the diversification of financing is leading to a new wave of debt, similar to that in the 1980s. This leads to the question: will history repeat itself?