Faith Leaders in Africa Appeal for “debt forgiveness” ahead of 2025 Jubilee Year

Representatives from the Catholic Church, the Anglican, the Lutheran among other Christian denominations, as well as Muslims, national councils of churches, interreligious councils across 13 countries in Africa and regional religious organizations appended their signatures on the statement that Carita Africa also signed.

The faith-based leaders say, “Our countries in particular face again agonizing choices between spending and investing on their people and paying their creditors. This year alone, Africa will spend $90 billion servicing public debt. Yet, the average African country’s combined spending on health, education and social protection is two-thirds of their debt payments.”

They recall that in the period preceding the last Jubilee Year, which was marked in 2000, their appeal for debt cancellation bore fruit, leading to poverty reduction on the continent.

“Our call for debt forgiveness was joined by leaders all over the world and international financial institutions mobilized $130 billion in debt relief, which helped advance spending for poverty reduction in several countries,” they say, recalling the 2000 Jubilee Year.

The representatives of religious leaders in Africa continue, “Unfortunately, inequities in the international tax, financial and trading systems, together with gaps in domestic governance, continued to foster unsustainable debt.”

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They say Africa’s financial challenges have been compounded by wars and conflicts, among other “multiple shocks”.

“As faith leaders, we come into contact day to day, up close, with the suffering of men, women, young people and children in our continent struggling to recover from multiple shocks,” they say, and add, “The pandemic and its aftermath, on top of pre-existing vulnerabilities, reversed decades of development progress and poverty reduction.”

“Multiple shocks continue due to wars and conflicts, fragile health systems, climate change, food scarcity and skyrocketing cost of living,” they further say.

In their statement, the faith leaders appeal to global lenders to align their actions and decisions in the coming months with Jubilee values that promote the dignity of human life.

The faith leaders call for “forgiving” of debts that they say are unpayable without endangering the achievement of development and climate goals.

According to the religious leaders, developing countries should have access to permanent, rules-based and predictable processes that bind all creditors into debt reductions, to limit unnecessary suffering and reduce the cost of crises for all. 

Additionally, legislation in major financial centers can protect against private actors attempting to free-ride on the good faith efforts of other creditors, the faith leaders say.

They further call for the implementation of responsible lending and borrowing principles, and explain, “Through laws, regulations and best practices, lenders and borrowers have a role to prevent the emergence of new cycles of wasteful and unbearable debts, including through authorization and disclosure regimes for debt contracts.”

There is also a need to mainstream risk sharing between creditors and debtors in debt contracts, the faith leaders say.

They explain, “In a world more prone to shocks, developing countries in debt should not be left alone to bear the costs of climate-related disasters, pandemics and other events beyond their control.”

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“The international community is at the crossroads,” the faith leaders say in the statement following their Kigali meeting that concluded on July 19, and directing their attention to global lending giants, add, “You have the power and the responsibility to steer it in the  path that restores hope and renewal.” 

Agnes Aineah is a Kenyan journalist with a background in digital and newspaper reporting. She holds a Master of Arts in Digital Journalism from the Aga Khan University, Graduate School of Media and Communications and a Bachelor's Degree in Linguistics, Media and Communications from Kenya's Moi University. Agnes currently serves as a journalist for ACI Africa.