Five African countries rank among the world’s top 10 borrowers from the World Bank’s concessional lending arm, collectively accounting for $67.8 billion in outstanding debt, according to new data on global exposure patterns.
African economies continue to feature prominently in the World Bank’s concessional lending architecture, with new data on International Development Association (IDA) exposure highlighting both their financing dependence and their centrality in global development flows.
The International Development Association (IDA) is the World Bank’s arm that provides low-interest or interest-free loans and grants to the world’s poorest countries.
Its goal is to help these economies fund essential development projects such as infrastructure, health, education, and poverty reduction programs, using long repayment periods and highly concessional terms to ease debt pressure.
According to the IDA's Quarterly Financial Statements dated March 31, 2026 (Unaudited), outstanding exposure under the World Bank’s concessional lending arm reached $230.8 billion across the top 10 borrowing countries, with lending heavily concentrated in a narrow set of emerging and developing economies.
