“All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others,” George Orwell famously wrote in Animal Farm, his allegory of Stalinism. But Orwell’s maxim could just as easily apply to the sovereign-debt crisis in Africa. Low-income African countries have the smallest share of global public debt but are more likely to be in debt distress or at high risk of it. This paradox reflects a dysfunctional international financial system. Unlike advanced economies, which have highly developed local-currency bond markets, African countries are subject to prohibitively high interest ratesand often cannot borrow from international investors in their own currency…

“But she spoke the truth.” That is the most common retort among the diehard fans and devotees of Mrs Kemi Badenoch — leader of the UK Conservative Party — who has been obsessed with saying nasty things about Nigeria since she made her way into the front row of British politics and started glowing under the klieg lights. She has said so many “truths” at a dizzying speed that I am slightly confused over what she intends to achieve. She said she left Nigeria in 1996 after “leftist policies” impoverished the middle class and caused “hyperinflation”. She said Yoruba “have…