Where Data Tells the Story
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Direct government-to-government lending is changing Africa's debt landscape.
In 2023, China emerged as Africa’s largest bilateral lender by a wide margin, with loans totalling $62.86B — more than four times those of the next biggest creditor. These funds, often tied to infrastructure and development projects, reflect both growing financing needs and changing geopolitical alignments.
This chart sizes each lender by the total value of bilateral loans to African nations in 2023, offering a snapshot of where the largest dependencies lie and who the biggest financiers of Africa are.
Key Highlights:
Methodology:
Data is sourced from the International Debt Statistics (IDS) database compiled by the World Bank and aggregated by One.org. Only bilateral creditors — loans from one sovereign government to another — were included. Multilateral institutions (e.g., World Bank, IMF) and private/commercial creditors were excluded. Loan amounts represent the sum of all outstanding bilateral debt owed by African countries to each lender in 2023. The chart highlights the top 19 lenders by total loan value, expressed in current US$ billions.
Source: International Debt Statistics (IDS) database, One.Org.
Research & Visualisation: Aneesh Anand