AHF Leads Call For Global Debt Reforms To Ease Africa's Development Crisis

AHF Leads Call for Global Debt Reforms to Ease Africa's Development Crisis

From Seun Miracle 

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria has intensified calls for reforms to the global financial system, urging international creditors to ease Africa's debt burden to enable governments to invest more in healthcare, education and other critical development priorities.

The call was made on Tuesday during the Freedom from Debt campaign held in Sarkin Noma community, Lokoja, Kogi State, where community leaders, civil society representatives and other stakeholders rallied support for fairer debt policies for developing countries.

Speaking at the event, stakeholders argued that Africa's growing sovereign debt burden continues to divert scarce public resources from essential services, leaving millions without adequate access to healthcare, education, water supply and social protection.

They called on international creditors to automatically suspend debt repayments for countries affected by pandemics and natural disasters, saying such measures would allow governments to respond more effectively to emergencies without worsening their fiscal challenges.

The participants also advocated lower interest rates on loans granted to developing countries, noting that reduced debt servicing costs would free up resources for investments that improve livelihoods and accelerate sustainable development.

Community leader, Mr. Nasiru Illiyasu, urged governments to adopt the proposed Borrowers' Forum discussed at the Seville Financing for Development Summit and the G20 South Africa meeting to strengthen the collective bargaining power of indebted nations.

Youth leader, Idris Yahaya, proposed mandatory pauses in debt servicing during health and climate emergencies, while the women representative, Asimau Abdulmalik, called for a one per cent Artificial Intelligence (AI) Solidarity Levy on AI-related capital and profits to finance debt relief and expand social protection programmes.

The Hakimi of Sarkin Noma, Mallam Bala Musa, commended AHF Nigeria for bringing the advocacy campaign to the community, expressing optimism that the initiative would contribute to improving the well-being of vulnerable communities across Africa.

Ambassador Idris Muraina described the campaign as timely, urging the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to adopt more equitable lending and repayment policies that would enable developing countries to invest more in education, healthcare and other development priorities.

Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kogi State Council, Mr. Ibrahim Obansa, also lauded AHF's advocacy and pledged the support of the media in promoting the campaign's message.

While supporting calls for debt relief, some participants stressed that African governments must also strengthen transparency, accountability and prudent management of public resources to ensure that the benefits of debt relief translate into meaningful improvements in the lives of citizens.

Earlier, AHF Nigeria's Senior Advocacy and Marketing Manager, Mr. Steve Aborisade, presented a policy brief titled "The Crushing Reality of Sovereign Debt," in which he described the current global financial system as one that disproportionately disadvantages low- and middle-income countries.

He noted that such countries pay between two and four times higher interest rates than the United States and up to 12 times more than Germany, while about 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt servicing than on healthcare or education.

Aborisade said AHF and its partners are advocating fairer debt repayment terms and broader reforms to the global financial architecture to enable governments to prioritize investments in health, education and social development.

"No country should have to choose between protecting its people and paying an unfair financial system," he said, calling on world leaders to urgently address the global sovereign debt crisis.