Africa launches borrowers' club

African finance ministers used the World Bank and International Monetary Fund spring meetings in Washington to launch a new Borrowers’ Platform aimed at giving debt-hit countries a coordinated voice in talks with creditors. (unctad.org) The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development said the platform was formally launched on April 15 and will be run as a member state-led initiative with UNCTAD as secretariat. Egypt’s finance minister, Ahmed Kouchouk, was named in the opening program as the lead political face of the launch. (unctad.org) 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. The platform’s stated goals include technical support, better debt data, stronger South-South coordination and a bigger role for borrowers in global debt talks. (unctad.org) African officials arrived at the meetings as financing conditions worsened on two fronts: aid is shrinking and debt service is rising. A United Nations financing report published in April said official development assistance fell 6% in 2024 and another 23% in 2025, while debt service in developing countries hit a 20-year high in 2024. (un.org) The World Bank’s own Africa Economic Update, released in April, said Sub-Saharan Africa’s 2026 growth forecast was cut to 4.1% and warned that high debt-service burdens and declining external financing are crowding out development spending. The bank also said rising fuel, food and fertilizer prices are adding new inflation pressure across the region. (worldbank.org) That is the gap the borrowers’ club is trying to fill. Creditor groups such as the Paris Club have long had formal ways to coordinate, while UNCTAD said borrower countries remain underrepresented in the system that sets debt terms and restructuring norms. (unctad.org) African Union officials used the same Washington meetings to press a wider agenda on jobs, industrial development, health systems and regional integration, framing debt as part of a broader push for more influence in global economic decision-making. The African Union said its delegation began those meetings on April 15. (au.int) For countries already under strain, the appeal is immediate. Malawi’s finance minister, Joseph Mwanamvekha, said this week that the World Bank had given Malawi a green light to seek money under its Rapid Response Facility, an emergency window meant to help countries absorb sudden shocks. (mwnation.com) Mwanamvekha said Malawi wants the support to offset inflation pressure from higher fuel, fertilizer and other import costs linked to the Middle East conflict, though he did not say how much financing the country could receive. The World Bank has not publicly announced a Malawi amount. (mwnation.com) The new platform does not erase Africa’s debt bill or unlock instant cash. It gives borrowers a table, a chair and a common brief at a moment when aid is falling, refinancing is expensive and national budgets are tightening. (unctad.org; worldbank.org; un.org)