African economies are facing a COVID-19 induced crisis. Global demand for raw materials has collapsed. International tourism has virtually halted. And even wealthier governments on the continent have been unable to provide the financial support necessary to prop up their struggling sectors.
In response, African finance ministers in April asked creditors to reduce their debt repayments. Several economic leaders on the continent have similarly called for a two-year debt freeze and urged the IMF and World Bank to provide debt relief for low income countries. Among others, France’s President Emmanuel Macron has echoed these calls, saying “we must give African economies some breathing space”.
It is debatable, however, whether breathing space is what African economies need. Most governments’ economic responses to COVID-19 have been aimed at preserving the status quo and facilitating a return to normal. Yet that status quo – built on centuries of unequal global economic structures – has done little to promote prosperity in Africa.
However long a moratorium might last, it cannot be the solution to the current crisis. Rather, what is needed now more than ever is a pan-African campaign for the cancellation of debt repayments and for the continent to develop its own credit market.