External indebtedness in Sub-Saharan Africa: a spatial econometric perspective

Abstract The dilemma around external debt accumulation and the increasing burden of debt servicing in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) remains a repetitive topic in the development debates. The aim of this study is to investigate the determinants of external indebtedness for SSA countries over the period 2002–2020 while accounting for spatial effects. It departs from the classical literature which uses external debt to Gross Domestic Product ratio as a measure of external indebtedness and formulates another measure, referred to as the Indebtedness Index, which is calculated by making use of the Stochastic Frontier Analysis technique. It accounts for the impact of spatial interactions in external debt accumulation behaviour, by applying the Spatial Durbin Model. The findings of the study show evidence of spatial interactions in external indebtedness among SSA nations. The results also show the reduction capacity of higher exports, political stability and government effectiveness on external indebtedness, while higher share of broad money to GDP exacerbates external indebtedness.