DEBTINTHE1990s/195reimbursement of a part of principal). Sub-Saharan Africa has paid
off its 1980 debt twice and more, but is now three times deeper in
debt.
Table 14.2 Evolution of sub-Saharan Africa's external debt (Sbn)
197071980
84.3
1986
140
1988
166
1991
196
1993
200.4
1995
226
1996
235.4
Source: World Bank, World Debt Tables to 1996 and Global Development
Finance, 1997, vol. 1.
Every year, sub-Saharan Africa spends four times more on debt-
servicing payments than it does on healthcare and education
combined.
In spite of the large sums spent on debt since 1980, sub-Saharan
Africa has clocked up significant overdue payments - some S48
billion by 1994 (Alibert, 1996, p. 7).
Another symptom of the growing debt problem is that 31 of the
region's 48 countries were classified as heavily indebted poor
countries (HIPCs) by the World Bank in 1996. That is six more than
in 1994.
Trade Losses
Sub-Saharan Africa has to use a significant part of its export earnings
to pay back its foreign debts, which are all denominated in hard
currencies. As a result, the ratio of annual export revenue to overall
debt provides some idea of the gravity of the situation. In 1996, total
debt was worth 32 7 per cent of total annual exports (not including
South Africa). In other words, to pay off its debts, the region would
have to hand over all its export earnings continuously for three years
and three months.
Changes in the region's balance of trade are crucial to evaluating
its ability to pay off its debts. If export earnings are inferior to import
spending, it is difficult to see how the debt can be paid without further
cuts in social spending and the resulting increase in poverty.
Since the beginning of the 1980s, there has been a deterioration in
the terms of trade for sub-Saharan export products on the world
market in relation to the products imported from industrialised
countries. In spite of a brief boom in the price of some products (coffee,