President John Mahama (left) with Togo President Faure Gnassingbé
President John Dramani Mahama is urging a new public debt management strategy to free African countries from what has become a debt crisis on the continent.
He said debt must not lead to crisis but serve as a worthy fuel to accelerate development of a continent with a debt service obligation of over US$90 billion last year alone.
Addressing the opening session of the African Union Debt Summit in Lome, Togo, on May 12, 2025, President Mahama said Africa must adopt a three-prone approach if the continent was to unlock debt as a tool for development.
The strategies are transparency and accountability, productive, efficient and responsible borrowing and regional solidarity and global financial reforms.
The conference, on the theme: ‘Africa’s Public Debt Management Agenda: Restoring and Safeguarding Debt Sustainability,’ was attended by delegates and financial sector players from AU member countries and multinational institutions.
“Debt should serve the people and this means strengthening parliamentary oversight, enhancing audit, and promoting open-budget systems,” he said, describing it as an unfortunate the IMF report, which found that less than 40 percent of countries in Africa publish detailed debt reports.
“The second is productive, efficient and responsible borrowing. Borrowing must be tied to high-impact projects that deliver tangible returns to our people. In Ghana, we are prioritising value-added agriculture, renewable energy, road and digital infrastructure, health and education. These sectors yield multiplier effects in jobs, exports and innovation,” he explained.
In the view of President Mahama, he indicated that, “Africa must speak with one voice to push for fairer global financial rules. Credit rating agencies must adopt methodologies that reflect the structural reforms and the growth potential of African economies. Not just penalise us for volatilities we did not create.”
He urged that the capacities of African financial institutions like the African Development Bank, the Afri Exim Bank and the proposed to offer concessionary financing tailored to Africa’s development reality.
“Sustainable debt should not be about debt to debt-to-GDP ratio but what the debt is used to finance and the governance that underpins that debt, and we African leaders must take some responsibility for the debt to trap our countries find themselves,” he added.
The G20 common framework which, he said, remains slow and creditor driven and the yet-to-be-fulfilled SDR allocations of US$ 100 billion pledged to Africa all undermine restructuring efforts and demand urgent multilateral reforms and Africa’s voice must be heard at the table.
Ghana, President Mahama emphasised, was committed to rebuilding its fiscal buffers, strengthening institutions and promoting inclusive growth through strategies like investment in education, youth empowerment and rural development amongst others.
“Our goal is not just to reduce our debt. It is to transform our economy. Debt must not erode our dignity or delay our development. It must finance the opportunity and lay the foundation for inter-generational progress,” he emphasised.
To this end, President Mahama said Africa must have a common position ahead of the 2025 G20 summit to demand timely, transparent and a fair debt restructuring framework.
He proposed a standardised debt transparency benchmarks across the AU, integration of climate adaptation and sustainable development goals into national debt strategies and the full operationalisation of the Africa monetary institute, the pan African payment and settlements systems in order to reduce forex demands and burdens.
“Let’s leave here with a new vision where debt is not synonymous with crisis but with capacity, where our economies are built not on restructuring aid but on innovation and value addition and equity where we don’t act as debtors asking for relief but as partners demanding reforms.
“Let’s redefine the African debt narrative and Ghana stages ready, shoulder to shoulder with our fellow African nations to champion this agenda,” he reaffirmed.
