In Nairobi, African finance leaders gathered to challenge one of international economics' most entrenched assumptions: that debt is a burden to be minimized rather than a tool to be wielded. With the continent's external obligations swelling to $1.8 trillion and debt servicing consuming nearly a third of government revenues, the question being posed is not whether Africa can afford to borrow, but whether the global system has ever truly allowed it to benefit from doing so. The call for 'debt productivity' over 'debt sustainability' is, at its core, a demand for agency — the right to participat
African Leaders Push Debt Productivity Over Sustainability to Fund Development
Debt servicing diverts resources from essential public services including healthcare and education across Africa, directly impacting millions of citizens' access to basic services.