Africa launches Borrowers' Platform

African finance ministers and other developing-country officials used the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington to launch a new Borrowers’ Platform, a UN-backed forum meant to coordinate debt negotiations from the debtor side. (unctad.org) The platform was formally launched on April 15 in Washington, with United Nations Trade and Development, known as UNCTAD, serving as secretariat during an interim period that runs to October 2026. Egypt’s finance minister, Ahmed Kouchouk, and Pakistan’s finance minister, Muhammad Aurangzeb, were listed among the ministers leading the launch. (unctad.org) Borrowers say the problem is not only access to money but the terms attached to it: high interest costs, weak bargaining power and debt workouts run largely through creditor-led clubs and committees. UNCTAD said the new body will offer technical support, share negotiating experience and help countries present common positions in debt talks. (unctad.org) The timing reflects a sharper squeeze on low- and middle-income countries. UNCTAD said developing countries’ external debt burden reached $11.7 trillion in 2024, and 54 countries with 3.4 billion people now spend more on debt service than on health or education. (unctad.org) Aid is also shrinking as borrowing costs stay high. Preliminary figures from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, reported by Reuters on April 9, showed official development assistance from rich countries fell 23.1% in 2025 to $174.3 billion, the biggest annual drop on record. (cnbcafrica.com) African officials arrived in Washington with that backdrop already worsening. The World Bank’s April 2026 Africa Economic Update said Sub-Saharan Africa’s growth was projected at 4.1% in 2026, unchanged from 2025 but revised down by 0.3 percentage points from the bank’s October 2025 forecast, with high debt-service burdens and tighter financial conditions weighing on growth. (worldbank.org) The new forum is also a response to how sovereign debt talks are currently organized. Reuters reported that officials involved in the launch see it partly as a counterweight to the Paris Club of official creditors and as a way to avoid countries entering restructurings with less data, less legal preparation and less institutional memory than their lenders. (dailytraderinsights.com) That push comes after years of frustration with the Group of 20 Common Framework, the main recent attempt to coordinate debt restructurings across traditional lenders and newer creditors such as China. Reuters reported that the framework has produced only three full restructuring efforts since its launch during the COVID-19 pandemic. (dailytraderinsights.com) UN Secretary-General António Guterres used the launch to argue for a more balanced system, saying borrowing countries need a place to “sit together” and speak collectively. The platform’s first task is more modest: set interim leadership, agree a work program and turn a one-off event in Washington into a standing bloc before October. (dailytraderinsights.com)