Kinshasa, October 25th, 2026 (CPA).- A call for reform of the global financial architecture and the preservation of social spending in the face of the burden of servicing Africa’s public debt has been launched on Saturday by the African Forum on Debt and Development (Afrodad), according to a statement from the organisation consulted on Sunday by CPA. “We have advocated for a far-reaching reform of the global financial architecture in order to reduce the burden of debt servicing on African economies and to safeguard public spending on health and education. African countries are devoting more resources to servicing their debt, even as overall debt levels are falling,” Janet Zhao, Executive Director of Afrodad has declared, on the side-lines of the 2026 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group.
According to her, the average cost of debt servicing in low-income countries has risen from 6% to 14% of government revenue over the past decade, a trend which, according to the data presented, is largely attributable to high risk premiums and difficulties associated with current debt restructuring mechanisms. According to Ms Zhao, the discussions and communiqués from the Annual Meetings did not indicate any substantial change in the global financial architecture, calling for continued advocacy for reforms tailored to the economic realities of African countries. For his part, Dr Yungong Theophilus, Head of Policy, Advocacy and Research at AFRODAD, has considered that the meetings had failed to meet civil society’s expectations regarding the transformation of the international financial system. “The IMF and the World Bank are advocating fewer but more far-reaching reforms, as well as new short- and medium-term structural reforms in African countries,” he has indicated, likening this approach to austerity measures likely to reduce governments’ fiscal leeway.
To address this, Afrodad has recommended, in particular, binding mechanisms to protect social spending, a more rapid restructuring of unsustainable debt, and the establishment of a United Nations Framework Convention on Sovereign Debt, designed to strengthen borrowing countries’ participation in international decision-making. Addressing the issue of debt restructuring, Catherine Mithia, Afrodad’s policy, advocacy and research officer on sovereign debt management, highlighted the limitations of the G20 Common Framework, in particular its non-binding nature and the slowness of certain negotiation processes.
The organisation has also welcomed the creation of the Borrowers’ Platform, which brings together developing countries to share experiences and coordinate their positions. It has called for greater African participation in this initiative and for progress to be made on the Common African Position on Debt, in collaboration with the African Union. AFRODAD also hopes that the UK’s G20 presidency in 2027 will help to put debt restructuring and refinancing back on the international agenda.