Africa must unite to resolve debt crisis —Chisenda

Ministry of Finance Permanent Secretary, Economic Management and Finance, Danies Chisenda, says Africa must unite and speak with one voice to resolve the debt situation on the continent effectively.

He said the debt problem was a reality, which requires an urgent solution for Africa to move forward on developing the continent.

Chisenda expressed happiness at the initiative of countries coming together to share experiences on challenges and opportunities in available options to manage the debt.

The Permanent Secretary said the government’s focus was on debt restructuring while at the same time undertaking programmes to transform the economy through promotion and facilitating investment.

He said Zambia was also deploying innovative resource mobilization strategies for accelerated economic recovery.

He was speaking on the sidelines of the 55th session of the Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, under the theme,” Fostering recovery and transformation in Africa to reduce inequalities and vulnerabilities.”

Speaking earlier, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA ) acting Executive Director Antonio Pedro said Zambia, Ghana and Ethiopia were some member states that needed technical support and advisory services in debt restructuring negotiations.

This is contained in a statement issued in Lusaka by First Secretary-Press and Tourism Zambia Embassy, Addis Ababa Ethiopia Inutu Mupango Mwanza.

He said that UNECA would continue providing technical assistance and advisory services to member states undertaking negotiations to restructure their external debt beyond Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) but within the agreed G20 Common Framework.

He disclosed that the Commission was preparing a report to propose a newvwork agenda for the International Monetary Fund(IMF) to improve
responses to the challenges that low-income and middle-income countries are faced with.

The UNECA Ministers Council meeting expressed concern that the prolonged and protracted debt restructuring negotiations within this framework had not translated into meaningful progress.

The meeting reiterated the urgency of transforming Africa’s economies and driving industrialization.

They underscored the need to expedite economic recovery in Africa for wealth and job creation.

This was necessary to ensure the achievement of many of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Contributed by Julius Phiri

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