Speakers in General Assembly Chart Ways to Tackle Rising Debt, Food Insecurity, Violent Conflict across Africa as Continent Pursues Transformational Agenda
Calling attention to the debt distress, food insecurity and violent conflict plaguing Africa, speakers in the General Assembly today called for heightened multilateral efforts to support the continent as it pursues a transformational agenda.
“There has never been a better time to accelerate progress towards peace, prosperity and sustainable development,” said Philémon Yang, President of the 193-member Assembly. Despite being home to vast energy and agricultural resources, African countries face persistent deficits in electricity access and high levels of food insecurity. Many rely on debt relief and suspensions to manage their debt obligations — pressures which are worsened by an unjust global financial system that “prioritizes high interest rates and debt servicing over common sense investments in resilience and social services” — pushing many countries to the brink of default. “As a result, Africa’s development financing has ballooned to $1.6 trillion,” he said. The continent will need an additional $194 billion annually to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.
Notwithstanding, “Sub-Saharan Africa shows signs of inherent tenacity like the baobab tree dotting its landscape,” he said, adding that after closing 2023 with a 2.6 per cent economic growth, the region is expected to hit 3.4 and 3.8 per cent in 2024 and 2025, respectively. “Let us do our part to help translate Africa’s untapped ingenuity into solid foundations for inclusive growth and shared prosperity,” he implored, underscoring that by 2035, Africa’s working population would have increased by 450 million. Accordingly, proper investments in social amenities juxtaposed with effective financial management, stronger domestic resource mobilization and better use of debt as a development tool will help drive transformative change and fortify African economies.
International financial support and derisked investments should be scaled up, together with a “more ambitious reform of the global financial architecture” that better serves and represents the continent’s needs. “For these efforts to succeed, durable peace must prevail in Africa and beyond,” he said, highlighting the need for urgent political solutions to the various conflicts across the continent. Terrorism and violent extremism must also be countered. Further, promoting peace and the rule of law must be done with a comprehensive strategy that encompasses legal reforms and broad societal transformations, and addresses the root causes of injustice and inequality.
Achieving universal access to justice requires “breaking down the systemic barriers that perpetuate cycles of poverty and lock people out from the education, employment, markets and services they need to participate equally in daily life”, he said. He urged focusing on vulnerable communities and reimagining justice systems, as well as tackling obstacles which prevent women from unleashing their full potential. “Africa must continue to rise. Africa must remain resilient and hopeful. Let us remain steadfast in our commitment towards a peaceful, prosperous and sustainable future on the continent and beyond,” he said.
Delegates Offer Lasting Solutions
Considering the Secretary General’s reports on lasting solutions to the continent’s debt problem (A/79/295), promoting durable peace through sustainable development (A/79/226) and the Outreach Programme on the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and the United Nations (A/79/265), Member States voiced their various positions on these topics.
South Africa’s delegate noted that debt-servicing costs have grown faster than the rate at which African countries can generate export earnings. Her country, upon assuming the presidency of the Group of 20 (G20) in 2025, will address this, even as it shall place the continent at the core of its mandate.
Thailand’s speaker urged developed countries to fulfil their official development assistance (ODA) commitments to Africa and a reform of the current international financial system, which “does not adequately respond to the needs of African countries, nor to the diverse circumstances and priorities of economies at different stages of development”.
The representative of Chad, speaking for the African Group, said that progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the African Union’s 2063 Agenda “brings us one step closer towards a peaceful, united and prosperous Africa”, as the continent faces complex challenges and significant opportunities. Lamenting the loss of between $500 and $600 billion in development financing annually through illicit financial flows, public spending inefficiencies and a worsening external debt — now at a record $656 billion or 28 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) — he called for an urgent, lasting solution. Investing in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), climate resilience, disaster risk reduction and adaptation can also reduce long-term economic risk.
He also advocated collaboration between African Governments and development partners to implement comprehensive policies that enhance the rule of law. “The lack of capacity of Member States to address the root causes of conflict also contribute to the persistence of fragility,” he regretted, calling for persistent bottlenecks which limit the continent’s “ability to fully harness its demographic dividends” to be addressed.
Turning to the 1994 Genocide, Latvia’s delegate revealed that, in solidarity with victims, his country, on 30 September, unveiled a memorial which “serves as a reminder of the horrific atrocities committed during the tragic period and honours the lives lost”. Rwanda’s representative said the United Nations’ related Outreach Programme “has played an indispensable role in ensuring that the memory of the victims is preserved, that survivors' voices are heard and that the world learns from this tragic past to build a future free from hate and intolerance”. He commended countries which have recognized 7 April as the International Day of Reflection on the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi. The Programme should be additionally funded to expand its initiatives and reach more communities globally, while mechanisms that monitor hate speech, genocide denial and distortion should be established.
On West Africa and the Sahel, Ukraine’s speaker lamented that the region is embroiled in political tensions, armed conflicts and the spread of terrorism. Foreign mercenaries, “primarily Russian”, are also active, engaging in illegal mining and expropriation of valuable minerals. Despite the Russian Federation’s aggression on his country, Ukraine is committed to peace and stability in Africa as exemplified by its persisting export of agricultural products to the continent, most recently Zambia and Malawi, and the world. His country looks to expand the list of African beneficiaries of the ‘Grain from Ukraine’ humanitarian initiative.
Major Investors Pledge to Continue Strategic Relationship
Several speakers, with a history of providing funding and financing to Africa’s development projects — whether in sustainable development, good governance, public health, food security or climate security — also spoke, with some promising to continue to grow their country’s strategic relationship with the continent.
“In the last year and a half alone, the Biden-Harris Administration has supported and helped close 547 new deals for a total estimated value of over $14 billion,” said the representative of the United States. He shared how Washington, D.C., has helped increase digital infrastructure, transportation and clean energy projects across the continent. “This is not about what the United States is doing for African nations; it's about what the United States is doing with African nations,” he said. The partnership with Africa runs deep because as much as his Government allocates to Africa in foreign assistance, the country’s private sector invests four times that amount into the African economy.
The Russian Federation’s speaker — referencing the part of the Secretary-General’s report on who bears responsibility for crises which impede development throughout the continent — said it is the United States, with its highly speculative trading practices, that has destabilized global markets. Moreover, the European stance to lower the dependence on Russian energy sources led to higher prices of foodstuffs in the European Union — which Moscow had nothing to do with. Welcoming the African Union’s inclusion in the G20 and African voices in the bloc comprising his country, Brazil, India, China and South Africa, known as the BRICS, he called for fairer representation of African countries on the Security Council. Ukraine “is directly supporting extremism separatists on the African continent”, he said, also adding: “Time has come to correct the artificial imbalances of the past, when most of Africa was still a colony.”
That past colonial history only sows seeds of conflict, India’s representative added. The rapid rise of external debt and associated economic vulnerability has limited Africa’s ability to invest in both the 2030 Agenda and Agenda 2063. Financial innovation must be focused on delivering the economic transformation required. As Africa moves ahead, India will continue to be a strong partnership with a current concessional line of credit to the continent valued at $12 billion.
“What can an African mother say to her son when he's asking for food and water that she can't give him?” Kuwait’s representative asked, stressing: “The lack of water and medication is a sin.” Enough confrontation, negligence, conflict, misery and double standards in development.
Continent Rich in Energy Reserves and Agricultural Potential Should Not Have to Struggle
Several speakers from African countries questioned why Africa is struggling to catch up in areas of energy and food security when it is a continent rich in both energy reserves and agricultural potential.
“We must promote an open, inclusive and fair global transformation that integrates Africa into the world economy,” Algeria’s delegate said, stressing also that economic and political assistance to Africa should never come at the cost of its integrity.
Zimbabwe’s representative said the current debt dynamics shaped by the historically extractive nature of Africa’s economies have created an overreliance on borrowing that is just not meaningfully driving economic transformation. “Without addressing Africa's debt challenge, the Africa we want risks being indefinitely postponed,” he said, stressing: “What Africa seeks is not charity, but access to long-term financing at competitive and fair interest rates.”
Echoing that call, Nigeria’s representative said: “We also stress the need for greater transparency and accountability from credit rating agencies, whose assessments significantly impact access to capital markets for developing countries.” Special drawing rights provide much needed liquidity to vulnerable economies in addressing the challenges caused by external shocks, such as inflation, rising interest rates and food insecurity.
Noting that Africa is “lagging behind” as attested by several reports, including ones examined today, Cameroon’s representative said investments should especially be focused in energy, research, science, technology, innovation, health, training and education. The digital sphere, which is “quickly skyrocketing under the hallmark of artificial intelligence, with all of its pros and cons” is also a vehicle of Africa's development. He called on the General Assembly President to have a “true Africa moment” this year with all those who “desire to bring about action, rather than simply declarations”.