Four of the twelve ECOWAS states exceed the ceiling of 70% of GDP set for public debt by the Community's convergence criteria, as well as by those of the WAEMU, according to 2025 estimates published by the IMF in October. Senegal remains by far the most indebted country in the region, with gross general government debt equal to 127.7% of its GDP, ahead of Cabo Verde (115.4%). Guinea-Bissau (75.1%) and The Gambia (73.7%) complete the group.
At the other end, Nigeria (36.1%) and Guinea (36.3%) post the lowest ratios in the zone. The simple average of the twelve countries reaches 65.9%, but the median stands at 56.1%: two countries, Senegal and Cabo Verde, are enough to pull the whole group upwards. Eight of the twelve states remain below the 65% mark.
In % of GDP
Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026 (gross general government debt; 2025 estimates); Benin: World Bank, after GDP rebasing, September 2026
| 2024 | 2025 | |
|---|---|---|
| Senegal | 136.1 | 127.7 |
| Cabo Verde | 127.1 | 115.4 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 82.4 | 75.1 |
| The Gambia | 75.9 | 73.7 |
| Togo | 66.2 | 64.9 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 59.5 | 57.1 |
| Liberia | 56.4 | 55.1 |
| Sierra Leone | 47 | 51.4 |
| Benin | 51.1 | 50 |
| Ghana | 70.1 | 48.8 |
| Guinea | 32 | 36.3 |
| Nigeria | 39.3 | 36.1 |
Ghana, from 70% to under 50% in a year
The sharpest move comes from Ghana, whose ratio fell from 70.1% in 2024 to 48.8% in 2025, a drop of 21.3 percentage points. This drop follows the restructuring of its external debt and the sharp appreciation of the cedi, which mechanically reduces the local-currency value of foreign-currency borrowing. Accra, which was close to the regional ceiling a year earlier, now sits below the zone average.
The decline affects ten of the twelve countries. Cabo Verde’s ratio fell by 11.7 percentage points, Senegal’s by 8.4 and Guinea-Bissau’s by 7.3. Only Sierra Leone (+4.4 points, to 51.4%) and Guinea (+4.3 points, to 36.3%) have seen their ratio rise over one year.
Dakar and Praia still far from returning below the threshold
The IMF's projections for 2026 change the picture only marginally. The Gambia would fall below the ceiling, at 67.4%, while Guinea-Bissau would remain just above it, at 73.9%. Cabo Verde would fall to 109.9%, still almost 40 points from the target. The Fund, however, publishes no 2026 projection for Senegal, whose foreign-currency debt rating was downgraded to Ca by Moody's at the end of October.
Ratios to be read with caution
These figures cover the gross debt of general government as a whole, a definition that may differ from the statistics published by national debt offices. The ratio also depends heavily on the GDP level used. For Benin, this ranking uses the ratio recalculated after the GDP rebasing: 50% in 2025 according to the World Bank, against 59.3% in IMF data, which still rely on the old national accounts base. The amount owed to creditors has not changed.
The 70% criterion does not measure sustainability on its own. A modest ratio can conceal a heavy interest burden when tax revenues are low, and the share of foreign-currency borrowing exposes countries with floating currencies to exchange-rate movements more than those in the franc zone, which is pegged to the euro.