Former Mauritian president Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, seen speaking in 2017, has launched a debt-relief initiative for African countries. © Crozet / Pouteau
A group of African leaders has called for debt relief for developing countries and highlighted the need to reform the global financial architecture, issues that have become even more pressing due to the costs of responding to the climate crisis.
Eight former African heads of state and government made the appeal as they launched the African Leaders Debt Relief Initiative (ALDRI) on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Cape Town. South Africa holds the presidency of the G20 group and has made debt relief a central focus.
“The time has come for the implementation of a bold comprehensive debt relief plan for Africa and other developing countries,” they said. “Unlocking Africa’s economic potential will drive global growth, strengthen supply chains, and accelerate the green transition.”
G20 finance ministers and central bank governors last year noted that debt and tight financial and market conditions could put pressure on public budgets, and called on the international community to support vulnerable countries facing liquidity issues.
Advocates have been asking for reforms by the IMF and World Bank to restructure global south debt and help vulnerable countries meet their climate commitment goals, as well as get rid of controversial surcharge policies.
Researchers suggest that a sovereign debt workout mechanism to restructure US$812bn worth of debt in the global south could help the region meet climate goals. In 2023 alone, emerging and developing economies will pay $385bn in debt service payments, limiting their ability to invest in green projects.
Seventeen out of the 20 countries most threatened by climate change are located in Africa and climate change already impacts 2-9% of national budgets across the continent, according to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations.
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, former president of Mauritius, said that small island states like her own are particularly vulnerable.
“Many of these nations are drowning in debt as they are forced to address the devastating impacts of climate change and rising sea levels,” she said.
Nigerian president Bola Ahmed Tinubu has noted that African governments spend $163bn to service debts a year, but only receive $30bn for climate adaptation — against annual needs of $227bn.
“If we are truly all in this together, a debt ‘haircut’ now would ultimately be cheaper than the bill for reconstruction in the wake of disasters like typhoons and floods,” he said.
Development NGO ActionAid says rich countries should be in debt to African countries for polluting the atmosphere and triggering the climate crisis, and has suggested the figure should be 50 times greater than is owed by the continent in foreign debt.
It adds that over three-quarters of all lower-income countries spend more on foreign debt than on their own healthcare systems and more than half spend more on debt servicing than education.
This page was last updated March 5, 2025
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Emma Thomasson is a British journalist, consultant and trainer based in Berlin. She is an expert in economics, politics, business and technology. She previously worked for Reuters as a correspondent and bureau chief in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands, South Africa and the UK.
