The Group of 20, a club of 19 rich countries and the European Union, has been urged to write off debts owed to them by African countries owing to the coronavirus pandemic.
Nairobi-based global lobby Oxfam International on Thursday said the G20 should write off debts owed to them by African countries whose economies have been strained, especially by the outbreak of coronavirus.
The G20 countries had a teleconference on Thursday between 3-5pm over the global economic fall occasioned by the virus disruption.
The group consists of China, Russia, USA, France, UK, Germany, Japan, Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea and Turkey. The European Union is also a member of the bloc.
China is among the members of the bloc from whom most African countries including Kenya owes billions in debt.
Angola leads the pack owing China $25 billion, followed by Ethiopia ($13.5 billion), Kenya ($7.9 billion), the Republic of Congo ($7.3 billion), and Sudan ($6.4 billion).
Oxfam argues that Africa has a history of unique challenges, among them drought, conflicts, terror among others and the coronavirus situation as presented the continent with its "worst crisis in decades."
"The Covid-19 pandemic comes at a time when African countries are already facing financial distress due to ballooning debt payments. It’s now more than ever that the continent needs to use all the available resources to respond to this life-threatening health pandemic and economic recession," Oxfam said.
"It is for this reason that, ahead of the virtual G20 Summit today (Thursday) to respond to the health crisis and an economic recession triggered by Covid-19, Oxfam International is calling on the G20 leaders to suspend all debt payments and in some cases issue cancellation," the anti-poverty lobby said.
No African country can afford to meet its debt obligations at least in 2020 without putting millions of lives at risk, it said.
The monies that the African countries were to pay up for their debts can be re-purposed to saving lives and providing a lifeline to many whose livelihoods have been disrupted by Covid-19, the lobby said.
edited by peter obuya
