The development of domestic debt markets in Sub-Saharan Africa was a hot topic at our recent Effective Domestic Debt Management course held in Kampala, Uganda. Our international debt experts, with support from the Macroeconomic & Financial Management Institute Africa (MEFMI), discussed how the move towards domestic debt is an increasing trend in many developing countries and how they are often constrained to issuing short term bonds that carry higher risk and cost. The banking sector often dominates the financial markets and the demand for longer maturities (from pension funds for example) is often lacking.
New this year was a focus on the practical tools for managing domestic debt. Participants commented on the usefulness of this practical approach and how the provision of templates and models in Microsoft Excel will enable them to build tailored models in their own work. Look out for more practical courses in 2008.