Sovereign Debt

March 22, 2021

I am thankful to the organisers of this Forum for the invitation to speak on African sovereign debt ahead of the African Finance, Development and Planning Ministers Meeting from March 17th to 21st, 2021. As Civil Society Organizations, we are meeting at a crucial time, as African leaders devise strategies to support the continent’s recovery from COVID-19 induced economic devastation.

I am angry but Hopeful.

AfSDJN & FES-Addis Civil Society Forum Focusing on Sovereign Debt Alongside March 2021 AU Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Conference

January 26, 2021

 

The disclosures on Kenya's sovereign debt indebtedness so far indicate that there could very well be examples of hidden debt - particularly sovereign debt that may not be publicly or dully disclosed particularly to Parliament.  This together with Kenya's increasing indebtedness means that Kenya's Parliament and civil society groups like the African Sovereign Debt Justice Network and OKOA Uchumi must carefully scrutinize as well as the 2021 National Debt Management Strategy Paper and all the accompanying disclosures. Kenya's Parliamentary Budget Office has recently noted that increased interest payments on debt have reduced spending on development and recommended rescheduling of domestic debt.

The Covid19 pandemic has thus far had an unprecedented and devastating social, economic and health impact globally. It has recast the spotlight on debt sustainability, default and sovereign debt restructuring. For African countries, a pertinent question today is—what will be the impact of the pandemic on debt repayment and what are the new debt service initiatives that may be required (including debt relief, restructuring and other measures)?

January 21, 2021

Afronomicslaw.org invites you to the official launch of the African Sovereign Debt Justice Network

Register to attend by clicking on this link: Zoom Registration

Date: January 26th, 2021

The African Sovereign Debt Justice Network (AfSDJN) is a coalition of citizens, scholars, civil society actors and church groups committed to exposing the adverse impact of unsustainable levels of African sovereign debt on the lives of ordinary citizens. The AfSDJN seeks to achieve this goal by advocating for debt cancellation, rescheduling and restructuring as well as increasing the transparency, accountability and responsibility of lenders and African governments about how sovereign debt is procured, spent and repaid.

This webinar was a collaboration between Afronomicslaw and the South Centre, Geneva, to mark the 25th anniversary of the South Centre. Both the South Centre and Afronomicslaw share a commitment to discuss the protection and promotion of the development interests of countries of the Global South.

I propose that it is our current and future battles that will determine the meaning and impact of decolonisation in Africa and beyond. As things stand now, the dead are certainly not safe. Let me elaborate on this claim drawing from Professor Taylor’s work: his piece draws from the classics of Third Worldist Marxism and dependency theory to provide a sober account of Africa’s nominally post-colonial present.

The way in which State immunity is applied can tell us something about the scale of values of the society in which we live. It is striking, for instance, to note that despite the rhetoric of human dignity in international law, the international community rejects the possibility of a “human rights exception” to immunity but accepts the commercial exception.