The States of sub-Saharan Africa saw their rating outlook confirmed at negative by the rating agency Fitch Rating. Only Côte d'Ivoire has a positive outlook.

The region faces rising debt, combined with fiscal pressures that are weighing on liquidity.

According to Fitch, Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, have likely avoided a contraction in GDP in 2020 and will return to previous strong growth. For the other states, fiscal consolidation and restricted access to foreign currencies will weigh on the pace of recovery.

Fitch forecasts public debt to reach worrying levels in 2021 and 2022, during which time seven countries in the region will have public interest expenditures equivalent to 20% or more of their income.

“Median public debt will rise further in 2021 and 2022 following a pandemic-driven surge in 2020, resuming the gradual upward trend since 2012. Debt has already reached high levels in many SSA sovereigns…” , notes the agency in a report.