Resource-Backed Loans in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper investigates the characteristics of resource-backed lending across sub-Saharan Africa. To shed light on this type of lending, the paper presents new information on thirty resource-backed loans identified through publicly available information between 2004-2018. These loans are concentrated in a few countries, where they represent a sizable fraction of all borrowing, they are typically taken by central governments and state-owned enterprises. While loan terms are mostly opaque, where data is available, we find that such loans are not cheaper than regular loans. The authors highlight opportunities to improve transparency and offer some suggestions for improving the governance of collateralized borrowings across developing countries.