Au Ghana, des manifestants demandent l'annulation de la dette africaine
Several hundred Ghanaian workers gathered on Friday in the streets of Accra, the capital of the West African country of 34 million people, to demand the cancellation of Africa's debt.
Dressed in red and black tops, the protesters held signs reading "We owe nothing, we will not pay," "Africa can no longer breathe," and "Economic reform is a scam."
The protest, led by the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) and supported by the International Trade Union Confederation - Africa (ITUC-Africa), called for a radical overhaul of the global debt system, which unions say is stifling Africa's economic prospects.
In Ghana, external debt stood at US$28.5 billion (€24.4 billion) in March 2025, or 28.5% of GDP.
Africa's leading gold producer and the world's second-largest cocoa exporter, the country is just beginning to recover from one of the worst economic crises in its history, marked by a debt default in 2022 and inflation that peaked at 50%, prompting former President Nana Akufo-Addo (2017-2025) to request a $3 billion (€2.56 billion) loan from the IMF.
"Africa is drowning in debt. More than half of African countries are already in debt distress or at high risk of becoming so, preventing governments from financing essential services such as healthcare, education, wages, and social protection," explains a petition signed by ITUC-Africa and submitted to the Ghanaian government.
"These debts, which amount to billions, have become a major obstacle to the development of the entire continent," said Horde Ayigbe, head of research at the CSI.
The petition calls for "the total and unconditional cancellation of Africa's unsustainable external debts as reparative justice," arguing that the resources thus freed up should be devoted to jobs, wages, social protection, and climate resilience.
Receiving the petition on behalf of Ghanaian President John Mahama, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson acknowledged the magnitude of the problem.
Africa's external debt now exceeds $1.3 trillion (€1.11 trillion).
"There is a difference between not being able to pay and not wanting to pay," Mr. Forson told the protesters.
23 African countries spend more money on debt servicing than on health or education.
"In the case of these 23 African countries, the cost of debt servicing has crowded out very significant expenditures... they simply cannot pay," the minister explained, advocating "a fairer and more sustainable debt resolution mechanism that takes into account the difficult situation of economies in great distress."
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