Page 118 - A People Called Afrika

A PEOPLE CALLED AFRIKA

in the minds of all these ‘experts’ who keep signing loan papers
and then begging for reprieves? The banking expert’s words
about banks and the banking or finance sector and the debt cy-
cle ring true. Danny Bradlow in an article on theconversation.
com published on 5th May 2020, titled, “Vultures, doves and
African debt: here’s a way out”, puts Afrika’s debt burden in
context, saying, “Once again, African countries are confront-
ing overwhelming debt burdens. According to the most recent
World Bank debt statistics, they owe a total of USD 493.6 bil-
lion in long term debt to their foreign official and commercial
creditors. About one third, USD 117 billion, is in the form of
tradable bonds. In 2019, many African countries spent more
money servicing their debts than they did on health.” Bradlow
says that this has made these indebted countries vulnerable to
‘vulture funds’ which are speculators who ‘buy’ Afrikan debt
on the secondary market cheaply and then sue debtor coun-
tries for full repayment of the principal, plus interest, mak-
ing upwards of 200% - 300% returns by using this strategy.

He says that these funds have used or are us-
ing this strategy against about 15 Afrikan countries.
Afrikan Ministers of Finance in March 2020 held a virtual con-
ference discussing the anticipated impact of Covid-19 on Afri-
kan economies which they are said to have thought would be
major and adverse, according to the uneca.org website. “They
noted that even before the COVID-19 pandemic, Africa was
already experiencing a huge financing gap in funding measures
and programmes aimed at realizing SDGs and Agenda 2063 tar-
gets and goals”. They agreed that: “Africa needs an immediate
emergency economic stimulus to the tune of USD 100 billion.
As such, the waiver of all interest payments, estimated at USD
44 billion for 2020, and the possible extension of the waiver to

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