Second, the fact that 53 per cent of overall work force is still engaged in the agricultural sector – whose share of GDP has shrunk considerably – is worrisome. A substantial part of this labour force will have to be ejected from agriculture not only to improve the productivity in agriculture but also in the overall economy.
The terms of these loans are often complex and typically only revealed after countries experience debt distress as was seen in Chad and the Republic of Congo recently 2. This increased reliance on non-traditional creditors has raised borrowers’ exposure to market risk, while at the same time posing additional challenges to the sustainability of external debt in the region.