Demand World Bank, IMF to cancel crippling debt
NKOMBO KACHEMBA
Accra, Ghana
IT IS mid-morning – women and men, youths, children, can be seen gathering under the towering statue of the great leader Kwame Nkrumah – a pan-Africanist and Ghana’s first prime minister.
With echoes of his quotes – “Action without thought is empty, thought without action is blind,” the women and men – young and old want their voices to be heard.
They want their concerns on Africa’s debt distress to reach policymakers, private lenders, multilateral and bilateral lenders.
Clad in red and black shirts, they take to the streets carrying placards with bold letters engraved – “World Bank and IMF: You owe reparations, not more debt!” Another banner read “Reparation – Cancel the Debts! Hands off Africa, Cancel the Debt.”
As of 2024, Africa’s total public debt surged to US$2.14 trillion, up from US$1.8 trillion in 2022.
In 2024 alone, Africa’s total debt servicing hit US$165 billion; nearly triple what it was just over a decade ago.
But the deeper concern lies in how this debt is structured, serviced, and what it costs the continent – not just in numbers, but in lives and livelihoods.
So many questions linger in the minds of Africans – why is Africa’s debt ballooning, why are Africans borrowing at a huge cost, why the lack of a credit rating agency in Africa, why do African countries service their debt in foreign currency?
All these questions were raised during the 5th African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD V) that was held in Ghana from August 27 to August 29.
The conference, held under the theme “Africa’s debt crisis:
A reparations and reparative justice framework analysis,” brought together policymakers, civil society, and economists from across the continent to assess the structural causes of Africa’s debt burdens.
The march past started from Obra Spot, Circle area, with marchers joining the Independence Avenue, displaying placards and chanting slogans against the injustices that have been done to African nations in terms of debt contraction.
They were seeking reparations and reparative justice against historical injustices rooted in slavery and colonialism, which has resulted in African countries contracting huge debt.
The marchers passed through Independence Avenue, with the noise attracting passersby, even the homeless ones, before making a stop at the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) building.
Their last stop was at the historic Black Star Square, a national landmark in Accra, built in 1961 to mark the visit of Queen Elizabeth II.
There, the marchers presented their petition, highlighting their debt concerns to Minister of Finance Cassiel Ato Forson.
Receiving the petition, Dr Forson struck a conciliatory yet sobering tone.
He reminded the crowd that as of end-2024, 23 African countries were already in high debt distress, with several defaulting or undergoing restructuring.
Ghana, he said, had been forced into painful restructuring in 2022 when its debt surpassed 100 percent of GDP.
He drew a distinction between “we won’t pay” and “we can’t pay.”
The former, he explained, signals unwillingness; the latter reflects reality – that debt service costs have crowded out essential public spending, leaving governments unable to fund healthcare, education, and defence.
“When that happens,” he warned, “you either restructure your debt or you forego social spending – and without social spending, you will not have a country,” he said.
Dr Forson also echoed the protesters’ frustrations about fairness in global debt talks.
He criticised the reluctance of multilateral institutions like the IMF and World Bank to offer debt forgiveness, even while pensioners and bilateral creditors bore sacrifices.
“If the ordinary person loses part of their pension to save the country, why shouldn’t the World Bank also contribute?” he asked, calling for “comparable treatment” of all creditors.
This sentiment resonated deeply with civil society leaders such as AfroDad executive director Rosario Braganza, who led the solidarity march.
He said the event was not just about debt numbers, but about reparative justice rooted in Africa’s long history of exploitation.
“From slavery to colonialism to today’s neo-colonial practices, Africa has been forced into dependency,” he told the gathering. “We must demand reparations, not more debt.”
The debates at AfCoDD V reflected this mix of activism and policy thinking.
University of Ghana finance professor Godfred Bokpin challenged African states to rethink repayment terms entirely by demanding that external debts be serviced in local currencies. The current system, he said, locks countries into currency volatility and drains development budgets.
“Our debt servicing obligations are in foreign currency, but our revenues are in local currency. This mismatch weakens our ability to invest in health, education, and infrastructure,” Professor Bokpin said.
He presented the Black Paper, a policy proposal that urges African nations to adopt a de-colonial approach to economics.
Citing United Nations data, he highlighted global borrowing inequalities: Germany borrows at 1.5 percent, the US at 3.1 percent, Asia at 6.6 percent—yet African nations face average borrowing costs of 11.6 percent.
“It is unjust for poor countries to pay more for capital than rich ones,” Professor Bokpin said.
Beyond numbers, the conference turned to the broader structural issues underpinning Africa’s indebtedness.
Trust Africa executive director Ebrima Sall spoke bluntly about illicit financial flows and corporate tax abuse, especially in the mining sector.
“Multinational corporations have for decades extracted Africa’s mineral wealth while evading taxes,” he said, warning that the continent now loses nearly US$100 billion a year through mis-invoicing, profit shifting, and offshore accounts.
“These are resources that should be building hospitals, schools, and roads,” Dr Sall argued. “Instead, governments borrow to replace what is stolen, perpetuating a vicious cycle of debt.”
He urged African leaders to follow through on frameworks like the African Mining Vision and strengthen tax authorities to tackle complex corporate schemes.
AFRODAD board chairperson Barbara Phiri, framed the debate in moral and historical terms.
“Africa does not owe the world – the world owes Africa,” she declared in her opening remarks.
She pointed out that the wealth of Western economies was built on slavery, colonial extraction, and unequal trade.
The call for reparations, she stressed, is not charity but justice: truth-telling, dignity, and the righting of historic wrongs.
African Union Commission officials, too, reinforced this message of self-reliance.
Dr Patrick Olomo, the AU’s head of economic policy and sustainable development, urged governments to stop going to the world with a begging bowl.
He cited Rwanda and China as examples of nations that had rebuilt through internal strength, discipline, and unity.
“Respect at the global table does not come from moral claims alone,” he said. “It comes from power-economic, political, and strategic,” Dr Olomo.
The symbolism of Ghana hosting the conference was not lost on participants.
As the home of panAfricanism, the Black Star Square where protesters gathered reminded the continent of Nkrumah’s vision of independence and unity.
Yet, as speakers noted, decades later Africa still finds itself caught in cycles of debt and dependency.
AfCoDD V thus served both as a platform for technical policy discussions and as a rallying call for justice.
The closing resolutions emphasized not only the need for debt cancellation and fair creditor treatment, but also stronger domestic tax regimes, illicit flow prevention, and above all, continental unity in negotiations.
For many, the marchers’ placards captured the mood best: “Hands off Africa. Cancel the debt.”
Behind the slogans lies a deeper demand – that Africa’s economic sovereignty and dignity be restored, not through aid or temporary relief, but through justice, reparations, and self-determined development.