African leaders have called for a recalibration of the “dysfunctional” global financial infrastructure to help developing nations deal with the current global economic challenges and address the effects of climate change.
While high-income countries were able to pump trillions of dollars into their economies during the COVID-19 pandemic, African governments “kept their nations afloat by taking on more debt, which turned out to be a very expensive life raft,” Kenyan President William Ruto, African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat Faki, and the president of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, wrote in a New York Times essay in early October ahead of the World Bank/International Monetary Fund meetings.
“Africa is now paying more in debt service than the estimated $50 billion a year the Global Center on Adaptation says it needs to invest in climate resilience. These investments are not nice-to-haves — they are vital for building roads, bridges and dams that can withstand torrential rains and floods,” they wrote.
About the author
Madalitso Wills KatetaMadatso_Kateta
Madalitso Wills Kateta is a Malawi-based Devex contributing reporter. He specializes in gender, human rights, climate change, politics, and global development reporting. He has written for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, The New Humanitarian, African Arguments, Equal Times, and others.
