Addressing the high debt in Africa, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chair of the African Leaders Debt Relief Initiative, highlights that African countries are trapped in an endless cycle of unsustainable debt, frequently borrowing at exorbitant interest rates to alleviate crises they did not create. He advocates for a full restructuring of the global financial system to provide large-scale debt relief and more effective borrowing conditions for developing countries.
In his op-ed on Project Syndicate, President Obasanjo emphasises the importance of new, equitable global partnerships based on mutual investment and shared values to support Africa’s development amid decreasing aid, rising trade barriers, and geopolitical instability. He advocates for a multilateral debt relief strategy, similar to the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program of the 1990s, to jointly restructure debts from private, bilateral, and multilateral creditors, freeing up resources for key services and sustainable development.
