99, the World Bank estimated Africa's aggregate external debt to be in excess of $285 billion ("Kenyan President," 1999, p. 1008243h0081). This level of debt exceeded the continent's exports, making it exceedingly difficult for the nations to finance their debt through international activities. Global trade is often cited as one of the ways in which emerging economies can stimulate economic growth, but with high levels of debt, nations have difficulty translating even international business into economic benefit.
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank have both provided multilateral debt to African nations. Over the years, and particularly late in the 1990s, African nations have argued for debt relief maintaining that the stringent requirements imposed by the IMF and World Bank make it almost impossible for the nations to recover from the debt they currently carry. However, the IMF has taken a conservative approach to the debt crisis in Africa and continues to hold that debt relief will not help the nations stimulate their economies. This is based on previous debt relief which has been issued during the 1980s and 1990s, and the failure (according to the IMF) for that relief to be translated into positive economic results within African nations (Ngai, 1999, p. 1008256u5926).
In general, the IMF position is that debt relief has been granted to nations which do not have consistent macroeconomic policies, and which also often have weak governments. The result is that the relief is unable to contribute to growth because the government is unable or unwilling to spend the "excess" monies generated by the relief in ways which will have long-term economic benefit to the nations. This inability to free up debt resources to areas requiring high economic priority results in unproductive spending which increases, rather than decreases, the need for additional funding (Ngai, 1999, p. 1008256u5926).
The IMF has indicated that n...