Apr 2, 2009  Africa: Global Economic Crisis, 2 http://www.africafocus.org/docs09/gec0904b.php
    "The Group of 20 (G20) is making a big show of getting together to come to grips with the global economic crisis. But here's the problem with the upcoming summit in London on April 2: It's all show. What the show masks is a very deep worry and fear among the global elite that it really doesn't know the direction in which the world economy is heading and the measures needed to stabilize it." Walden Bello, Foreign Policy in Focus

Apr 2, 2009  Africa: Global Economic Crisis, 1 http://www.africafocus.org/docs09/gec0904a.php
    "There is a need for developing countries to examine the options for national policy on each aspect of the economic crisis and to seek the appropriate policies. However, only some policy measures can be taken at national level, especially if the country is too small to rely on the boosting of domestic-led growth. Regional-level measures are important. And most critical are the reforms, actions and cooperative measures required at the international level." - Martin Khor, South Centre

Jul 1, 2008  Africa: Debt, Unfinished Business http://www.africafocus.org/docs08/debt0807.php
    "In May 1998, 70,000 people from across Britain and the world took part in one of the biggest demonstrations the UK had ever seen: a human chain around the Group of 8 (G8) summit in Birmingham, demanding an end to poor country debt. ... Significant amounts of debt cancellation have been secured for the world's poorest countries, making a real difference to the lives of millions of people in poor countries. .. [But] not all that has been promised has actually been delivered - and further, what was promised was far from enough." - Jubilee Debt Campaign

Feb 22, 2007  Zambia: Stop the Debt Vultures! http://www.africafocus.org/docs07/zam0702.php
    A High Court in Britain has rejected the claims of a U.S.-owned debt-collection firm to $42 million of debt from Zambia, but left open the door for the firm to get as much as $10 million to $20 million for the loan, which it purchased from Romania at a discount for less than $4 million. The firm is one of a number of "vulture funds" that specialize in buying up discounted third-world debt and then trying to collect the full sum.

Feb 9, 2007  Liberia: Debt Cancellation Overdue http://www.africafocus.org/docs07/lib0702.php
    Demonstrators delivered over 10,000 Valentine cards to the U.S. Treasury this week asking the U.S. Treasury Secretary to "have a heart" and cancel Liberia's debt. With the Liberia Partners' Forum in Washington scheduled for next week, even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has stated that the debt is unsustainable. But more than a year after President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf took office, Liberia is still being asked to repay arrears on accumulated debt.

May 30, 2006  Africa: Debt Relief Update http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/debt0605.php
    Debt relief has become a significant vehicle of resource transfer to countries under the World Bank/IMF HIPC program, concludes a new internal World Bank evaluation. But in eight countries completing the program, debt ratios already again exceed the Bank's sustainability level of 150 percent debt-to-exports ratio.

Feb 8, 2006  Africa: Fix Resource Leaks http://www.africafocus.org/docs06/abug0602.php
    "What matters for ensuring that governments have adequate resources to finance development are net flows. This means factoring in not just inflows ... but also what is lost to the rest of the world. Debt servicing is [only] one [such] outflow. ... Indeed, the reality of Africa is that the resources that leak out far exceed those that flow in." - Charles Abugre

Oct 27, 2005  Nigeria: Debt Deal Views http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/nig0510.php
    Nigeria has reached a new agreement on debt with its bilateral creditors, gaining $18 billion in debt cancellation at the price of $12 billion in payments over the next year and a new program of economic monitoring by the International Monetary Fund. Reactions to the deal are mixed.

Sep 22, 2005  Africa: Debt Deal in Question http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/debt0509.php
    "Arbitrary criteria have been used to exclude most countries from debt relief. While it may be politically expedient for powerful countries to pretend that only a small set of countries need debt cancellation, it is time to explode this myth." - Christian Aid

Jun 13, 2005  Africa: Debt Deal Substantive but Modest http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/debt0506.php
    G8 finance ministers have decided to write off 100% of stocks of debt owed to international financial institutions by 18 countries, including 14 in Africa. This decision, still to be ratified by the G8 summit in July and by the annual meetings of the IMF, World Bank, and African Development Bank in the fall, is estimated to cover some $40 billion in debt, with annual savings to the 18 countries coming to about $1.5 billion.

Jun 3, 2005  Africa: Gold Industry Blocking Debt Plan http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/gold0506.php
    "If you could improve the lives of hundreds of millions of the world's most destitute people with a program that might - just might - temporarily reduce the profits of the global gold industry, most people would probably think it is worth doing. Even most members of Congress. That's why it has been so disturbing to see gold producers strong-arm Congress and the White House into blocking just such a desperately needed measure." - The New York Times, June 3, 2005

May 25, 2005  Africa: Kenyan Bishops on Debt Cancellation http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/debt0505.php
    "The efforts at debt cancellation that were made till now could be compared to the scraps that Lazarus hoped he could feed on at the rich man's table: they are illusory promises without real substances. ...Giving to others scraps rather than what they deserve means basically treating them in a sub-human way, not as human beings!" - Catholic Bishops of Kenya, Pastoral Letter, May 17, 2005

Apr 12, 2005  Africa: Unions Call for Debt Cancellation http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/debt0504.php
    "In spite of positive rhetoric ... concrete actions [on new debt relief] have been delayed from meeting to meeting, in part because of disagreements between donor countries on the specific elements of an expanded debt relief initiative." In a new statement released in March, global unions joined other campaigners for debt cancellation in calling on international financial institutions to stop delaying and act for full debt cancellation for developing countries fighting poverty. But the prospects for action at this week's meeting of the World Bank and IMF remain uncertain.

Feb 8, 2005  Africa: Postponing Debt Decisions http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/debt0502.php
    Finance ministers of the G7 group of the world's richest countries, meeting in London from February 4 to 5, stated their willingness to consider "as much as 100 per cent multilateral debt relief" for the poorest countries. They also asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to consider how it might contribute to financing such debt relief. In theory, these could be significant steps forward. In practice, the G7 countries remain deeply divided. They disagree both about the political urgency and about the possible mechanisms for acting to free up more resources to fight global poverty.

Jan 18, 2005  Africa: Multilateral Debt Cancellation http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/dbt0501b.php
    "Given the urgency and need for immediate action, we urge the G8 to begin immediately and in particular for G7 finance ministers to reach agreement on 100 percent multilateral debt relief at their February 4th meeting," African finance ministers said in Cape Town after concluding a meeting with British finance minister Gordon Brown. But despite Brown's high-profile African visit, accompanied by pledges of debt cancellation and increased aid, debt campaigners still have questions about the details of Britain's plan and the will of other rich countries to act.

Jan 18, 2005  Africa: Debt Issue Unresolved http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/dbt0501a.php
    The first test this year for rich countries' willingness to act on world poverty is coming soon, as finance ministers from rich countries meet in London on Feb. 4. A new report from the United Nations has stressed the need for new investments in strategically targeted new investments through doubling aid (see http://unmp.forumone.com). But halting debt payments to international financial institutions could have even quicker effects, through freeing up resources for health, education, and other urgent needs.

Oct 4, 2004  Africa: Debt (Continued) http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/debt0410.php
    Despite an emerging consensus in favor of complete debt cancellation for the poorest heavily indebted countries, the G-7 group of rich countries failed this weekend to reach agreement on how to cancel the debt. Meanwhile a new UN report noted that between 1970 and 2002, African countries received some $540 billion in loans, paid back close to $550 billion in principal and interest, and still held debt of $295 billion at the end of 2002.

Sep 27, 2004  Africa: Reviewing the Bank http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/eir0409.php
    As the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank gather for their annual meetings on October 2 and 3, World Bank reports not yet released are said to indicate a continued failure of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) program to provide debt sustainability, even by the Bank's own criteria. The U.S. and British governments are reported to have two competing plans for writing off more of the debt owed by the poorest countries.

Jun 13, 2004  Africa: Debt Update http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/debt0406.php
    Despite pre-summit news reports that rich country leaders gathered for the G8 summit might consider a British proposal for full cancellation of debt for poor countries, the summit only announced a two-year extension of the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative. The Jubilee2000 USA Network and other groups reportedly flooded the U.S. Treasury Department with phone calls, and some officials were said to be considering the idea. But the White House was not convinced.

Jun 3, 2004  Zambia: Condemned to Debt http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/zam0406.php
    "The evidence suggests that the past twenty years of IMF and World Bank intervention have exacerbated rather than ameliorated Zambia's debt crisis. Ironically, in return for debt relief, Zambia is required to do more of the same. The country has been condemned to debt." - World Development Movement report

Feb 13, 2004  Ethiopia: Debt Relief Backstep http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/eth0402.php
    Ethiopia's debt is becoming more and more unsustainable, even under the narrow criteria used by international agencies to calculate what countries can afford to pay. Changes in interest rates and continued low coffee prices are projected to drive the value of the debt up to 220 percent of Ethiopia's exports, even after promised relief.

Feb 8, 2004  Africa: Who Owes Whom? http://www.africafocus.org/docs04/debt0402.php
    Rich-country finance ministers meeting in Florida this weekend focused on the sinking dollar and rising U.S. debt, cautioning against excessive volatility in currency markets. They also called for more reductions in the debt burdens of Iraq and Afghanistan, and warned debt-strapped Argentina to comply with International Monetary Fund policies. Africa's debt, estimated at more than $300 billion, was not on the agenda.

Nov 25, 2003  Africa: Debt Meeting Consensus http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/debt0311.php
    African experts meeting in Dakar under the auspices of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) deplored the lack of a consolidated African position in response to global policy proposals that have vast economic implications for Africa. They agreed that current debt relief schemes are inadequate, that increased debt relief is the most effective way to provide rapid additional funding for development, and that additional measures were also essential to advance the globally acknowledged goals of ending proverty.

Nov 4, 2003  Senegal: Debt and Destruction http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/sen0311.php
    As the U.S. Congress approves $87 billion for the U.S. occupation of Iraq, long-standing promises by rich creditors to provide debt "relief" of some $49 billion for 42 countries remain unfulfilled, and largely off the radar screen for policymakers. Yet debt remains a crippling burden not only for the 34 African countries that qualify as Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), but also for major African powers such as Nigeria and South Africa.

Nov 4, 2003  Africa: Debt and Deception http://www.africafocus.org/docs03/hipc0311.php
    As the U.S. Congress approves $87 billion for the U.S. occupation of Iraq, long-standing promises by rich creditors to provide debt "relief" of some $49 billion for 42 countries remain unfulfilled, and largely off the radar screen for policymakers. Yet debt remains a crippling burden not only for the 34 African countries that qualify as Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), but also for major African powers such as Nigeria and South Africa.