Insufficient access to debt relief measures for African countries, as well as scarce resources on the continent, are a prerequisite for public unrest, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said today and proposed new reforms for the international financial architecture, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
The growing debt crisis on the continent of over one billion people has led to outbreaks of unrest in recent months. Clashes between police and demonstrators against a proposed tax hike in Kenya have prompted people in other African countries such as Nigeria and Uganda to also take to the streets to protest the high cost of living.
African countries have sought to restructure their debts through a G20-proposed restructuring scheme called the Common Framework, but the scheme has, contrary to expectations, failed to speed up talks between a host of leaders, ranging from Chinese state bank chiefs to London-based asset management companies and New York banks.
In June, Zambia became the first country to successfully restructure its debt thanks to the scheme – more than three years after declaring default on his service.
Guterres said at the China-Africa Cooperation Summit in Beijing that the African debt situation is unsustainable and could become a cause for civil protests and riots.
„They do not have access to effective debt relief measures, (have) scarce resources and clearly insufficient preferential financing to meet the basic needs of their populations,” he said, referring to African countries.
Guterres proposed “deep reforms of the outdated, inefficient and inequitable international financial architecture”, as well as additional measures designed to “provide developing countries with the liquidity they need as they seek medium- and long-term solutions.
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Beijing – the world's largest bilateral lender, hosted representatives from 50 African countries at the China-Africa Cooperation Summit, where Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged 360 billion yuan (about €45.7 billion) in new financing for the continent in the next three years.
Last year, China approved $4.61 billion (about €4.16 billion) in loans to Africa, the first annual increase since 2016.
Guterres praised China's initiatives on the African continent and said they could spark a “revolution in the renewable energy sector” and to “be a catalyst for key changes in the field of food systems and digital connectivity”.