Africa Pays ‘Scandalous’ Premium to Borrow, Top Bankers Say

The credit ratings of most African nations are much lower than similar sovereigns elsewhere in the world, costing them billions of dollars in additional debt-service payments and denting vital economic growth, according to three of the continent’s top bankers.

“It’s actually scandalous,” Standard Bank Group Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Sim Tshabalala told the inaugural Bloomberg Africa Business Summit in Johannesburg on Tuesday. “The additional borrowing costs wipe out about two percentage points on African” gross domestic product, he told a panel alongside Kenny Fihla and Roosevelt Ogbonna, the CEOs of Absa Group Ltd. and Nigeria’s Access Bank Plc respectively.