A group of Africa experts said the upcoming G20 meeting in Johannesburg should focus on debt refinancing for low-income countries hit by soaring debt payments.
The panel said developing nations needed immediate debt relief, with interest payments ballooning in recent years amid rising inflation. While developing countries’ debt remains moderate compared to wealthier nations, their government revenues are far smaller and their interest rates far higher, meaning they spend a huge share of their national income servicing debt. Unless these burdens are eased, Africa will never exploit its potential, a former Ethiopian prime minister said.
This G20 “will long be remembered for its determination — or for its failure — to rise to the challenge,” Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe wrote.
