Ethiopia has plunged into economic uncertainty, defaulting on a $33 million interest payment due on December 11. This setback follows the Tigray civil war, impacting investor sentiment and economic growth.
The Global Debt Crisis Unfolds
Ethiopia joins the ranks of nations like Sri Lanka and Lebanon, standing at the brink of a debt crisis. Over 70 low-income countries grapple with a colossal debt burden of $326 billion. China, the largest creditor, poses a significant challenge for debt servicing. A December 2023 World Bank report signals a 5% increase in debt servicing payments for developing countries, with Arab nations like Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon facing high-risk debt scenarios.
Challenges in Debt Restructuring
Ethiopia's debt crisis centers around a missed $33 million interest payment on a $1 billion bond from 2014. Despite ongoing restructuring talks, resolution proves elusive due to differences between China and Western countries and private lenders' reluctance. Ethiopia's debt to GDP ratio stands at 46.37, lower than Kenya's 67.94, yet liquidity issues persist.
This is specifically why I don't use Twitter. Maybe it's the algo showing me similar people, but the whole space seems like an intellectual circle jerk. Everybody reading and citing the same sources.
Your post instantly brought to mind one of my favorite books by computer scientist Gerald Weinberg - Weinberg on Writing: The Fieldstone Method.
He had a quirky obsession with building stone walls, and really milked that knowledge for use in programming and writing.
I found the book most useful in absorbing the way he thinks in this way - snatching insights from one craft to use in another. Writers on the internet now are obsessed with zettelkasten, but seems nobody reads this book which emphasizes an emotional element to deciding what information is worth capturing.
Personally I try to follow one interest into a related space that I normally wouldn't go.
I lived on the ocean last year and many mornings would walk 40 minutes to check the surf, only to get skunked regularly. That got me studying oceanography textbooks and math formulas of waves to make better predictions for ideal days to surf.
When I lived in the mountains I was hiking a lot and found myself in sketchy situations with relatively close lightning strikes. Scared the crap out of me. I ended up taking a meteorology course on Wondrium (The Great Courses company) which I found really enriching.
Recently went to the planetarium in Bogotá which got me jazzed about not only watching the sky but also mythologies and worldviews of different cultures. It's really interesting to see the same star patterns interpreted in different ways, with different stories attached.
I look for things that are all around me but I know little to nothing about and think "how much richer would my daily experience be if I understood even a little about this?"
Things like the weather, plants/ botany, architecture. I'm a complete dunce on those topics and it's like I'm waking around with blinders on now.
Hunting mushrooms became a favorite hobby of mine for a while too when I lived in a great area for that. It's really addicting, and you get a lot of time in the woods with your thoughts. Developing a visual habit of scanning/ noticing things definitely bled into other areas of my life.