By Sola Ogundipe
A major new report has raised alarm about the deepening debt crisis across Africa, revealing that the majority of countries on the continent are spending more on servicing debt than on the healthcare and education of their citizens.
The new report by international team of economists convened by Pope Francis seeks radical reform of the global financial system, to relieve crushing debt burdens stifling global ability to meet basic human needs.
The study commissioned by the Jubilee Commission and carried out by 30 economics and development experts found that nearly 60 percentof Africans live in countries that spend more on servicing external debt than on either health or education.
The Jubilee Commission, led by Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz and former Argentine finance minister Martín Guzmán, lamentsthe spiraling debt payments and lack of progress in healthcare, education, and climate change response in developing nations.
It calls for sweeping change—from ending public bailouts of private creditors to creating a global bankruptcy framework for nations in distress. It also urges the revival of pandemic-era debt relief initiatives, which offered a lifeline to dozens of low-income countries but expired in 2021.
The report states: “This crisis is not just economic—it’s moral. The global debt architecture prioritizes financial markets over human survival and dignity.
The report comes ahead of the United Nations 4th International Conference on Financing for Development in Seville, Spain. The Commission’s findings are expected to ignite fresh debate on debt reform, global inequality, and creditor responsibilityamong others.
The report highlights a growing shift in lending patterns, with more than 43 percent of African external debt now owed to private Western creditors rarely subject to restructuring negotiations.
Among its key recommendations, the report urges a revival of debt suspension initiatives such as the COVID-19-era reprieve, an expansion of “debt-for-nature” swap programmes, and enhanced funding for development banks.
It also renews calls for a comprehensive restructuring mechanism under the United Nations, echoing the earlier Heavily Indebted Poor Countries initiative (HIPC), which cancelled over $100 billion in debt in the early 2000s, allowing African nations to boost social spending.
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