Government Debt Management and Bond Markets in Africa

This article presents highlights from the forthcoming OECD cross-country study Public Debt Management and Bond Markets in Africa. Debt managers from an increasing number of emerging market jurisdictions face challenges similar to those of their counterparts from advanced markets due to competitive pressures from global finance and the related need to implement OECD leading practices in this policy area. The article shows that OECD standards in public debt management and related market operations are, therefore, of great importance for public debt management and bond market development in Africa. Several African debt managers have introduced the leading debt management practices of OECD countries, use them for designing new debt strategies (including for managing contingent liabilities), and have made impressive progress in developing their local government securities markets. Many countries in the region are taking advantage of debt reduction initiatives. Avoiding falling back into positions of unsustainable debt is identified as a key challenge for many African governments. OECD financial policy makers are increasingly interested in developments in emerging markets, including those on the African continent. Moreover, emerging markets (including the latest emerging market region, Africa) are an increasingly important asset class for investors from the OECD area. Thus, the policy conclusions and priorities identified here are of interest to not only African countries but also the OECD area and other emerging market countries. Local bond markets in several African countries have gained in strength in terms of liquidity and maturity structure, making them more attractive for important categories of OECD investors and less vulnerable to exchange rate shocks.