IVORY COAST. Abidjan: Akinwumi Adesina, the President of the African Development Bank(AfDB) has urged for Africa’s debt forgiveness as a pivotal path to recovering from the pandemic. According to the reports, Sub-Saharan African countries have debts of over $350 billion.
During a virtual conference, he has warned about the adverse effects of the COVID-19 on the economy of African countries. In November, though, Zambia became the first African nation to default on its debt since the pandemic struck.
“While developed countries have used trillions of dollars for fiscal stimulus, Africa does not have such luxury,” he added.
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Adesina emphasized that payment of COVID-19 vaccines has added the burden to the high debt. The economic damage inflicted by COVID-19 is most likely to influence more African nations to pursue debt relief through a new G-20 common framework that leverages the IMF to negotiate debt reduction from private and public creditors, thereby assisting countries in alleviating the economic and financial pressures of the pandemic.
“However, our bank will lead the recovery process with a focus on youth, women and children”, he said.
Adesina further asked responsible authorities to ensure that African countries have equal access to vaccines against COVID-19.
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