Paris Club creditors cancel $2 billion of Somali debt
14/3/2024: Somalia has secured an agreement with the Paris Club of creditor nations to cancel more than $2 billion in debt. The deal follows a decision by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank that Somalia has reached the "completion point" for the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.
Source: VoA
Rising concern over UK aid spending on asylum-seeker hotel bills
14/3/2024: The UK is diverting £3.2 billion from its foreign aid budget to pay the hotel bills of asylum seekers, defying international pressure to stop this accounting ruse. The OECD has warned that these costs may not be eligible for its assessment of UK foreign aid.
Source: Devex
Onerous debt making poorest countries poorer
31/1/2024: Recent modest progress in reducing extreme poverty and food insecurity has slowed sharply, or even reversed in many of the world’s poorest countries. As a debt crisis looms, much more concessional finance and other resources are needed for these countries to develop.
Source: Inter Press Service
A new global plan to ease debt-burdened countries
1/1/2024: Africa stands at a critical juncture, with more than half of its 54 countries allocating more resources to debt service than to health expenditure. The UN Secretary-General has acknowledged this challenge and called for an annual stimulus of at least $500 billion to offset the negative market conditions that developing nations face.
Source: PassBlue
Ethiopia becomes third African state to default on sovereign debt
26/12/2023: Ethiopia has defaulted on a coupon payment due on its only international government bond, having been under severe financial strain in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and its two-year civil war. Ethiopia will join Zambia and Ghana in a full-scale "Common Framework" for debt restructuring.
Source: The East African
Somalia secures $4.5bn debt relief from lenders
10/12/2023: The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund have led the way to reducing Somalia's debt to $600 million from a high of $5.2 billion, under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative. Over the past few weeks, Somalia has also been admitted to the East African Community and the UN has lifted its arms embargo.
Source: The East African
Greenpeace identifies nine principles for societies beyond GDP
23/11/2023: Greenpeace has published “Growing the Alternatives: Societies for a Future Beyond GDP”, a set of principles that put the wellbeing of nature, people and society before the need for making profit and growing Gross Domestic Product. GDP rewards waste and pollution and does not take into account vital aspects such as people’s wellbeing or the limits of nature.
Source: Greenpeace International
Is debt restructuring the magic wand for Africa?
23/10/2023: The recent annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank returned to Africa after 50 years but only Zambia emerged with a debt relief package, among ten countries on the continent that are in debt distress. The charity ActionAid is calling for change that prioritises development over debt repayments, shifting away from austerity and fiscal fundamentalism.
Source: The East African
China or US: Who’s delaying debt relief to developing world
11/10/2023: Today, 3.3 billion people live in countries that spend more on interest payments than on education or health, according to the UN. China has been widely blamed for the delay in a global debt relief programme. Beijing disagrees and puts the onus on the US and lenders backed by it.
Source: DW
Asian Development Bank to lend $100 billion more
2/10/2023: In response to the G20 call for multilateral development banks to find ways to stretch their resources, the Asian Development Bank has authorised a 40% increase in lending. The bank’s spending will still focus on ending poverty, but will also increase funding for climate work.
Source: Devex