Across 51 African countries, government debt was estimated at $1.93 trillion in 2025. These are not debt stocks reported by national authorities. They were calculated by multiplying each country’s IMF general government gross debt-to-GDP ratio by its current-dollar GDP.
Both inputs came from the April 2026 WEO, so Intelpoint applied no separate exchange rate, although the estimates inherit the IMF’s dollar-GDP conversion. On that basis, South Africa had the largest estimated stock at $335.9 billion, followed by Egypt at $316.6 billion. Together, they accounted for 33.8% of the total.
The ranking changes when debt is measured relative to the size of each economy. Egypt ranked sixth across the 51 countries at 86.8% of GDP, while South Africa ranked eleventh at 78.6%. Sudan had the highest ratio at 187.6%, followed by Senegal at 130.2%. Mozambique and Cabo Verde also had debt exceeding 100% of GDP. Government coverage in the underlying IMF series is not uniform.
Among the 51 countries, 40 entries cover central government only, 10 include some combination of state, local government or social security funds, and Angola’s coverage classification is unavailable.
Debt instruments and valuation methods also vary. The figures should therefore be read as a consistent application of one IMF series and calculation, not as 51 harmonised official debt stocks. Nigeria illustrates the difference this can produce. It is estimated here at $103.1 billion, compared with the $110.97 billion reported by the DMO for Q4 2025, a gap of $7.9 billion.
The available data do not show which methodological factor accounts for this specific difference. Eritrea, Libya and Somalia were excluded because the IMF did not provide the required debt ratios.
