Ethiopia and Senegal: Debt Shenanigans?

A set of recent articles in the FT by sovereign debt guru Joseph Cotterill suggest to us (reading between the lines) debt shenanigans in both Ethiopia and Senegal. We can’t figure out exactly what is going on in these two cases, but there is enough there for us to engage in wild speculation. In Ethiopia, the bondholders seem to be irate that some big player (aka China) is interfering with their deal and they are threatening to use. In Senegal, someone (aka BOAD?) is engaged in a moral hazard play by buying up gobs of local Senegalese debt; this, at a time when the international market has shut out Senegal thanks to disclosure shenanigans.

Producer: Leanna Doty