How Africa's Top 10 Economies Relied on Debt Markets in 2025

Africa’s economic ranking in 2025, as published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), took a new turn. The ranking revealed how governments turned to debt markets to keep budgets funded, projects moving, and old obligations from straining given limited FX buffers. Put differently, beyond macro performance, the top ranking Africa clime also used bonds, bills, sukuk, and Eurobonds to finance themselves in 2025, a year marked by local and global market uncertainty. According to the IMF’s October 2025 World Economic Outlook, South Africa, Egypt, Algeria, Nigeria, Morocco, Kenya, Ethiopia, Angola, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana emerged as Africa’s ten largest economies by Gross Domestic Product (GDP). A growing GDP typically expands a government’s tax base, strengthens domestic financial markets, and improves access to capital. However, GDP growth alone does not fund the economy. Africa’s largest markets in 2025 relied on debt instruments to stabilise the economy. Governments bridged fiscal gaps primarily through borrowings by issuing short, medium, and long-term Debt Securities. These instruments, issued by the country’s designated Debt Management office and Apex Banks, includes amongst others, Treasury bills, Treasury bonds, Sukuk, savings bonds, infrastructure bonds, and Eurobonds. They aid in refinancing maturing obligations, spread borrowing costs over time, finance budget deficits, and deepen local capital markets amid currency woes, inflationary pressures, and global uncertainty. In 2025, all of Africa’s top ten economies actively deployed these instruments, which underscored a strategic response to fiscal realities. Nigeria Nigeria’s return to the Eurobond market exemplifies the strategy. The West African nation issued new Eurobonds in the fourth quarter of 2025, after nearly a one-year pause following the last issuance. The last issuance of 2024 came at a time when other previously subscribed instruments were near maturity. Similarly, in 2025, the government also issued new Eurobonds primarily to refinance existing obligations due in the last quarter of the year, such as the $1.12 billion Eurobond and ₦100 billion FGN Sukuk. Speaking on the 2025 flagship issue, Patience Oniha, Director-General of Nigeria’s Debt Management Office (DMO), through which the instrument was allotted, noted that the 10 and 20-year issue attracted global investors and was oversubscribed by 453 per cent or $10.65 billion, thereby providing surplus to finance maturing debts and the economy. “Nigeria is pleased to have attracted a wide range of investors from multiple jurisdictions, which it views as an expression of continued investors’ confidence in the country’s macro-economic policy framework and prudent fiscal policy and monetary management.” She added that the proceeds from the issuance would be used to finance the country’s maturing debt obligations, 2025 fiscal deficit, and support the government’s supplementary financing needs. Between January and October 2025, Abuja raised ₦17.36 trillion in new debt, which was shared across ₦15.8 trillion domestically and ₦1.56 trillion raised externally. Other countries like South Africa, Kenya, Congo Republic, and Angola also caught the bug, as they auctioned off their high-yield debt instruments to investors with a target to repay maturing debts. South Africa South Africa’s 2025 debt programme is centred on lengthening maturities and stabilising debt through a mix of domestic and external issuance. The sovereign focused on new 9-year and 15-year fixed-rate bonds, regular Treasury bills, inflation-linked bonds, and retail instruments, which were complemented by a sizable dual-tranche Eurobond of around 12-year and 30-year maturities in foreign markets. This strategy aimed to contain refinancing risk while still meeting large gross financing needs through rand-denominated debt. Egypt Egypt returned firmly to international debt markets in 2025 after a two‑year lull. As a result of the return, Cairo raised about 4.5 billion dollars from several foreign-denominated and Islamic instruments. This included a dual‑tranche Eurobond early in the year, a private sukuk placement mid‑year and an oversubscribed public sukuk toward year‑end, alongside its first domestic sovereign sukuk in Egyptian pounds. On the domestic front, the authorities conducted continuous Treasury Bill auctions in both local and foreign currencies, while the Ministry of Finance issued large volumes of local-currency bonds to finance fiscal deficits. This blend of Eurobonds, sukuk, and local instruments reflects both Egypt’s FX needs and its push to diversify its sources of economic funding. Algeria Algeria maintained an active domestic issuance calendar in 2025. They used frequent treasury bills and medium‑to long‑term bonds to finance a widening budget deficit that had climbed into double‑digit territory relative to GDP as of 2024. In September 2025, they issued a landmark Sovereign Sukuk worth 297 billion dinars, backed by the state’s real‑estate assets and aimed primarily at Algerian citizens who are at home and abroad. Although its implementation was pushed to early 2026, the move is targeted to tap into the high stock of informal savings and also advance local capital‑market participation. Morrocco Morocco issued a €2 billion dual-tranche Eurobond in March 2025. It was the first foreign bond sale since 2023 and the first euro-denominated issuance since 2020. The issuance drew strong demand, with subscriptions over $7.31 billion, underscoring investors’ interest in Morocco’s macro reforms and a cushion for the anticipated infrastructure spending for the 2030 FIFA World Cup tournament that would be co-hosted by the African Nation. Throughout 2025, Rabat continuously issued weekly and monthly Treasury Bill and Bond auctions that performed impressively, amounting to 154.6 billion dirhams by the end of the first 11-months in 2025. Kenya Kenya, which climbed to become East Africa’s largest economy by nominal GDP in 2025, leaned on both Eurobonds and domestic bonds to manage refinancing risks and support investments. In February 2025, the government issued a 1.5‑billion‑dollar dual‑tranche Eurobond with a 9.5% coupon. The issuance was partly to buy back the 2027 maturing 900-million Eurobond and refinance existing external debt. Later, in October, the government also issued another dual‑tranche Eurobond, with the same motive. They also consistently issued weekly Treasury Bills and monthly Bond auctions, infrastructure bonds that were relatively tax-exempt with attractive coupons of up to 12%. Ethiopia Ethiopia remained within Africa’s top‑10 by GDP but in clear debt distress, pivoted in 2025 toward more market‑based domestic financing under an IMF‑supported reform programme, developed after defaulting on fulfilling its 2030 maturing Eurobonds. Treasury Bills were extensively issued throughout 2025/26 via weekly and biweekly auctions conducted by the National Bank of Ethiopia. The maturities ranged between 28, 91, 182, and 364 days. The government also sought to raise ETB 243.05 billion in the last quarter of the year. Also, the government phased out the mandatory bank purchases of submarket-priced bonds and pushed toward an interest-rate-based framework. As of September 2025, total debt stock was ETB 2.56 trillion, dominated by long-term Treasury Bonds (79%) and 11.3% T-bills. Angola Angola returned to international capital markets in October 2025 after a three-year absence. The return was a targeted move as it raised $1.75 billion through dual-tranche Eurobonds –a 5-year tranche at 9.25% and a 10-year tranche at 10.12%. The issue attracted notable investment, as order books exceeded the issue, reaching $6 billion, providing funds to refinance its maturing debt and finance fiscal needs amid declining oil revenues. In December 2025, Angola issued $150 million in Foreign Currency Treasury Bonds (OT-ME) through a bookbuilding exercise. Domestically, Luanda conducted regular auctions, with Treasury bonds (OTs), taking up a majority of the issue. The Kwanza-denominated Treasury Bonds were marked with relatively high yields and a medium-term profile (12.74%, 3years). Côte d’Ivoire Côte d’Ivoire executed two ambitious raises in 2025. On March 25, the coastal nation issued a EUR/USD hedged Eurobond that raised more than 3x the $1.75 billion sought. Still, on the following day, Abidjan city created a landmark African-first-ever local currency denominated Eurobond. The country also achieved another milestone by issuing its debut Samurai bond (JPY 50 billion) in July 2025 with a partial guarantee from Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC). Domestically, Côte d’Ivoire continued to mobilise its weekly, bi-monthly, and monthly issuances, raising 1,169.97 billion CFA francs in Q3 from treasury resources. Ghana Ghana recovered in the debt markets throughout 2025, highlighted by the resumption of medium‑term bond sales for the first time since the December 2023 Domestic Debt Exchange (DDEP) default. This return to longer-dated securities was part of a broader debt management strategy tied to Ghana’s IMF‑supported recovery framework, which saw the government shift from relying almost exclusively on short‑term T‑bills (during and immediately after the DDEP) toward longer‑dated securities to smooth the debt profile. The government sought to raise GH₵3 billion in medium-term notes between September and December 2025; so far, it has garnered orders. Total funds raised via debt instruments reached GH₵684.6 billion in Q3 2025 in Q3 2025, with external debt comprising 49% of the total at GH₵300.28 billion ($29.11 billion), as Ghana progressed under its IMF-supported recovery programme following debt restructuring. What 2025 reveals about Africa’s debt strategies Across Africa’s top 10 economies by GDP, three patterns stood out in 2025. First, Eurobonds and other hard currency instruments were central to refinancing and FX funding, but the high coupons and volatile global markets forced governments to be more selective and liability‑management focused, as seen in Nigeria and Kenya. Second, markets also focused on regular periodic auctions. They issued Treasury Bills and bonds, local‑currency infrastructure paper, and, in some cases, sovereign sukuk designed to tap retail and diaspora savings. And lastly, countries that are near distress, such as Ethiopia, aligned their economic pact alongside policy guidelines of the IMF. This act underscored the fine line between GDS as a development tool and a risk-controlling tool. Finally, across the continent, governments increasingly used debt instruments as a tool to refinance, smooth fiscal imbalances, and signal investors’ confidence.