By Etienne Mainimo Mengnjo
African campaigners have called for a more equitable and just system in the international financial architecture that has persistently marginalized African nations.
The call was echoed on Monday August 5, during a virtual presser. Leaders from renowned institutions such as Southern and Eastern Africa Trade Information and Negotiations Institute (SEATINI)-Uganda, Tax Justice Network Africa and African Forum and Network on Debt and Development, AFRODAD participated in the presser.
Speaking during the presser, campaigners asserted that the international financial architecture in its current form has marginalized African nations grappling with shrinking fiscal space, the climate crisis and high youth unemployment.
Jason Braganza, Executive Director of AFRODAD, highlighted the unsustainable debt burden on African nations. “Much of the borrowing is being used to service existing debts rather than investing in development,” he stated. “This vicious cycle traps us in a precarious position.”
To address this crisis, Braganza proposed a new global financial framework where borrowing countries, especially African nations, have a unified, powerful voice in negotiations.
“We envision a UN-led platform where developing and developed countries, as well as creditors, can engage as equals,” he explained. “This would foster fairer, transparent negotiations, prioritizing the borrowing country’s development goals while ensuring debt servicing.”
Jane Nalungu, Executive Director of SEATINI, echoed the call for reform, accenting the need to revamp the decades-old international financial architecture. She argued that this overhaul is essential for boosting domestic revenue, facilitating a green transition, and eradicating poverty in Africa.
Nalungu stressed that revisiting international financial and trade treaties is pivotal to breaking the vicious cycles of indebtedness, trade deficits, and balance of payments challenges that continue to afflict African economies..
Chenai Mukumba, Executive Director of the Tax Justice Network Africa called for heightened oversight to close legal loopholes that facilitate illicit financial outflows and tax evasion by multinational corporations operating within the continent.
She noted that illicit financial flows deprive African governments of critical revenue needed to fund public services, thus perpetuating economic vulnerabilities and social inequities.
Activists are united in their demand for a restructured economic order that recognizes and rectifies the historical marginalization of African countries. They believe this is the only path to achieving sustainable and inclusive development.
It’s worth noting that four African countries namely Zambia, Ghana, Ethiopia, and Chad have defaulted on their debt. Several others are teetering on the brink of default.
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