Regarding debt, Abidjan is one of the good students. Côte d'Ivoire has just borrowed a billion euros on the financial markets, what is called a Eurobond issue. And investors rushed to lend to the country considered relatively safe by investors.

Not all countries are bad payers, far from it. The bond issue launched by Côte d'Ivoire at the end of November was a great success. According to the Minister of Economy and Finance, Adama Coulibaly, signs that the country is attractive: "We have had for nine years now, an economy that is growing at a sustained pace, and this is something that reassures. »

While the IMF is worried about a new over-indebtedness of Africa, Côte d'Ivoire escapes this phenomenon. "No, Côte d'Ivoire's debt will not jump, because we now have a debt ratio of less than 40%", reassures the minister.

With a historically low interest rate, 5% against 6.5% on average for this type of loan, Abidjan will use part of the money to repay old debts. This refinancing of costly debt by less expensive debts is currently at the heart of discussions between Africa and its donors, private or public.

"We discussed these issues, including the possibility that the IMF could make available SDRs to raise interest rates and bring them a little lower," Coulibaly said. That is to say, in the context of the Côte d'Ivoire operation that we are talking about, we are at 5% and if there were an allocation of SDRs that would make it possible to improve, we could have a slightly lower rate. »

In the meantime, Côte d'Ivoire is sending a reassuring signal to those who fear a financing crisis in Africa. The money is starting to come back.