Uganda’s Capital Markets Authority has started a review of state enterprises to see which could be listed on the stock exchange. Whether the review ends in action or in a drawer, it points to a lesson the whole continent should take: Before signing another loan, ask citizens to own the project instead.
Africa’s loan record makes the case. Between 2013 and 2014, state-controlled companies in Mozambique secretly borrowed some $2 billion for a tuna fleet and maritime security vessels. When the debt surfaced in 2016, donors withdrew, the currency collapsed and the country defaulted. An independent audit found $500 million of it diverted and unaccounted for.
