A dilemma for dozens of countries: Fund your schools and hospitals or pay your debt

Nigeria is now spending 96% of its government revenues to pay off the interest on its national debt. Kenya suspended salary payments to thousands of government workers in March to avoid a default on its loans.

These aren't isolated national crises. They're consequences of a major potential debt disaster looming over dozens of low- and middle-income countries. It's already forcing dozens of lower income countries to make excruciating choices between funding schools and hospitals – or avoiding defaults. And it's driving up the cost of food to record levels.

It started with low interest rates

To understand the magnitude of this problem you need to go back to the early 2010s, when historically low interest rates made the cost of borrowing money very affordable.

This was really helpful for governments of many low- and middle-income, head of global policy at the advocacy group the ONE Campaign. "So finance ministers did the logical thing and said, 'You know, here's cheap money. Let's borrow to fund this infrastructure.' "