“Civil society must be asking your governments, are you joining the Borrowers’ Platform? Why are you not joining the Borrowers’ Platform? What is it there that is holding you back?”
Nine countries have so far endorsed the Borrowers’ Platform, a new initiative intended to give developing countries a stronger collective voice in negotiations over sovereign debts, a senior United Nations official said on Thursday.
Those from Africa are the Central African Republic, Egypt, Ghana, Madagascar and Sudan.
The rest from other parts of the world are Colombia, Honduras, Nepal and Pakistan. Egypt is serving as the platform’s interim chair and Pakistan its vice-chair.
The Officer-in-Charge of the Debt and Development Finance Branch of the United Nations Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Penelope Hawkins, disclosed this at the sixth African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD VI), organised by the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) in Nairobi, during a session on making the Common African Position on Debt (CAP) and the Borrowers’ Platform work for citizens.
She urged civil society organisations across Africa to ask their governments why they had yet to join the platform.
“Civil society must be asking your governments, are you joining the Borrowers’ Platform? Why are you not joining the Borrowers’ Platform? What is it there that is holding you back?” she said.
The Borrowers’ Platform was launched in April during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings, with UNCTAD serving as its secretariat.
It is intended to help borrowing countries strengthen debt management, share expertise and coordinate their positions in global debt discussions.
Ms Hawk noted that the platform was created because developing countries have had limited influence over the international financial system, despite being heavily affected by decisions made within it.
She said the imbalance remains visible in institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, where changes in representation have not fundamentally altered voting power.
Ms Hawkins explained that African debt managers had expressed interest in contributing their technical expertise to the platform and aligning it with the CAP.
She revealed that the issue was discussed at a meeting in Harare, Zimbabwe, where African debt managers considered how their expertise could contribute to the initiative.
The discussion came months after African leaders adopted the Common African Position on Debt.
The African Union Heads of State and Government adopted the CAP in February as a continental framework for addressing debt sustainability, debt restructuring and reforms to the global financial system.
But speakers at the session said adoption was only the beginning. The challenge now is to turn the position into action that can influence how African countries borrow and negotiate with creditors.
Shem Joshua noted that African countries needed to find a way to turn political agreement into collective action.
“The fundamental question that we need to ask ourselves is not about the rate of power, but how do we convert the political convergence into a collective agency or collective strategy?” Mr Joshua said.
Participants explained that African countries negotiating individually with powerful creditors often faced an unequal bargaining position. A coordinated position, they argued, could give them greater leverage during debt restructuring and negotiations over borrowing terms.
Panellists also called for proposed debt restructuring arrangements to be made public before they are concluded, allowing parliamentarians and citizens to scrutinise them.
Bob Gikuyu, a senior theology advisor at Christian Aid, said faith-based organisations could help bring the experiences of communities affected by debt and austerity into national and international discussions.
The cost of debt to citizens was illustrated with figures presented from Zambia.
Participants revealed that about 49.1 billion Zambian kwacha was released in the budget in June, with 34.9 billion kwacha — about 71 per cent — going to debt servicing.
Only about 11 per cent went to social and capital expenditure.
Speakers said the figures showed why debt restructuring should be judged not only by macroeconomic indicators but also by whether governments can continue providing healthcare, education, social protection and other essential services.
Participants also said that developing countries had paid more than $500 billion in additional interest costs in a year compared with what they would have paid if they had borrowed at rates available to developed economies.
They further noted that debt-servicing costs in developing countries had risen by about 100 per cent over the past decade, while government revenues had grown by only 39 per cent.
Ms Hawkins, who is one of the panellists, noted that the full list of countries that had endorsed the Borrowers’ Platform would be made public ahead of a governance meeting scheduled for October.
She urged more African governments to join, saying broader participation would strengthen developing countries’ collective voice in efforts to reform the international financial system.
A second AfCoDD VI session examined how citizens can monitor the implementation of the Common African Position on Debt.
