African countries collectively owe more than 1.1 trillion dollars in external debt, an African clergy lobby group has said.
The lobby christened African Faith Leaders said the huge external debt was hurting African countries hence the need to reduce it for the continent’s best interest. They said 25 of the 54 countries were in deep debt crisis.
“Debt financing and the ordinate interest rates incurred by the global South in servicing debt affects social sector spending to achieve the global sustainable development and climate goals,” the clergy said.
They addressed the press at a Nairobi hotel on Tuesday.
The statement signed by 26 men and women of the cloth titled ‘African Faith Leaders on how Africa can emerge better from today’s multiple crisis’ was read by Kenyan Bishop John Oballa of the Catholic Diocese of Ngong.
The over 26 faith leaders were from Kenya, Cote D’ivoire, Mali, Ghana, Rome, Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, Liberia, Uganda, Zambia and Burkina Faso.
“We, leaders of Catholic and other Christian Faith Denominations, Muslim and Indigenous religions met in Nairobi to discuss and propose solutions on how Africa can emerge from multiple and interlinked crisis.
“Amongst them; the impacts of Covid – 19 pandemic, food and nutrition, insecurity, climate change, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, fragile health systems, conflicts, terrorism and debts,” Obala said.
Obala said these crisis were results of social justice issues at the international and domestic levels linked to; tax injustice in globalisation, trade imbalance between donor and recipient countries and gaps in management of public finance at the domestic level.
“As a result, the situation has intensified poverty, inequality, and governance challenges in the continent and set back progress on attainment of sustainable development goals by 2030,” he said.
