The borrowing needs of African governments are increasingly met by issuing marketable debt instruments. Leading practices from OECD governments exert an important influence on debt management and the functioning of markets for sovereign debt instruments. This first issue of the Statistical Yearbook on African Central Government Debt provides comprehensive and consistent information on African central government debt instruments. It includes individual country data but also comparative statistics to facilitate pan-African (cross-country) analysis. JEL Classification: G2, G28, H63 Keywords: African borrowing needs and debt instruments, public debt management, Statistical Yearbook on African Central Government Debt