Although Ethiopia experienced an average 9.4% growth in the last decade, it is currently looking to restructure $1bn of its sovereign debt (totalling $25bn in 2020). In January 2021, after nearly a year with Covid-19, it joined the G20 Debt Service Suspension initiative (DSSI). Given the ongoing ripple effects of the pandemic and conflict in its Tigray region, how is the country handling debt renegotiations?
Ethiopia’s debt is closely linked to economic policy. The previous Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) administration had applied a developmental state approach for two decades.