Stakeholders seek debt relief for Nigeria, other African countries

Amidst rising debt burden, stakeholders at the just-concluded national conference on debt and development have stressed the need to bring debt to a sustainable level to achieve relief.

They argued that Nigeria and other African countries need debt cancellation given that debt remains an instrument for rich developed countries to dominate countries of the south.

The Executive Director of the African Network for Economic and Environment Justice (ANEEJ), David Ugolor, who is also the convener of the conference, expressed worry at the current public debt, put at N87.38 trillion as at the end of March 2023 and the fact that Nigeria’s revenue is now channelled to debt servicing obligations at the peril of basic social services.

He said if urgent and drastic steps are not taken by both the Nigerian government and the international community, the current debt burden would drive more Nigerians into extreme and multidimensional poverty, adding that the debt burden would also impact significantly on the country’s fiscal capability.

Other negative consequences, he said, include inability to fulfill its commitment Sustainable Development Goals as well as the climate actions at the Paris Agreement.

Ugolor recalled that African leaders during the Africa Climate Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, also called for debt relief across the continent to allow countries to get on with obligations imposed by climate change

He said: “The asymmetries between north and south and between creditors and debtors occur within the framework of a financial architecture that favours the most developed countries and the groups that concentrate the greatest capital power in the world. The costs of the crisis are unevenly distributed.”

However, the lead Director Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Eze Onyekpere, submitted that the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) is clear that debts should only be incurred for capital projects and human development programmes but unfortunately the government borrows to pay salaries.

He added that section 48 of the FRA stipulates that borrowing should always be done in a transparent manner.

“Unfortunately, several borrowings in Nigeria were done by the President, Minister of Finance and the National Assembly as there was never public consultation or cost benefit analysis,” he said.

He said the argument that Nigeria debt is still sustainable is false given that the country is using about 100 per cent of its revenue to service debt, lamenting that “our leaders have been going on a borrowing spree and several reports by CSOs to caution them ignored”.

He said: “I will not be part of those campaigning for debt relief because we have been talking and they are not listening. Now, they want us to be asking for debt relief. We are stealing from our revenue and still stealing from money borrowed; if we keep stealing from the treasury, we won’t make progress.

Meanwhile, the Head of Policy Strategy and Risk Management Department, the Debt Management Office, Sani Abubakar, insisted that Nigeria’s public debt remains sustainable. He said what is important is the need to shore up revenue generation in the country, saying the country cannot stop borrowing with the current situation.