Deep dives · five themes, twelve lender profiles
Deep dives
Reading pages that go further than the map's filters: five on a theme that runs across Africa, twelve on one lender each. Every page opens with a map, shown here on its card with what the page says of it, and carries its own data.
By theme five pages
Each card shows the map its page opens with; hover a country for its figure.
DebtWho Africa owesDebt by creditor, 2000–2024, from the World Bank28 of 50 governments have China as their largest bilateral creditor at the end of 2024. Each country is coloured by its largest; multilateral lenders and bondholders are left out.China 28Europe 9Gulf states 9United States 1Other lenders 3Open the deep diveChinaUSD 82.2 bnEuropean UnionUSD 13.8 bnGermanyUSD 13.6 bnUnited StatesUSD 6.8 bnRussiaUSD 4.5 bnItalyUSD 3.7 bnTurkeyUSD 0.6 bnCompareSeven lenders side by sideDebt, aid and what each one builds, compared38 of 49 governments owe China more than any of the other six lenders at the end of 2024. Each map shades a country by what it owes one lender, on one scale for all seven.Under USD 0.1 bn0.1–1 bn1–10 bn10 bn or moreOpen the deep diveCorridorsAfrica's strategic corridorsRailways, ports and pipelines: who pays and who buildsThe 19 corridors and the 37 countries they cross. Green is in service, magenta being built, blue approved and amber only announced, dashed until it is built; the map further down has the detail.Open the deep diveGlobal GatewayGlobal Gateway in AfricaThe EU's flagship projects: where, what for and with whom37 countries named by at least one flagship on the Commission's list, shaded by how many1–23–56 or moreOpen the deep diveGERDThe Grand Ethiopian Renaissance DamAfrica's largest dam: its lake from space, its power, who paid5,150 MW is GERD's capacity, more than Ethiopia's other 23 power plants together (4,984 MW). The Blue Nile it dams carries most of the water that reaches Sudan and Egypt.EthiopiadownstreamOpen the deep dive
By lender twelve profiles
One page per lending country or group: what Africa owes it, what it lends and gives, and what it builds. The figure is the debt African governments owe its creditors at the end of 2024.
Every lender profile, with its debt since 2000 and what each page holds