By Stephen Adeleye
A financial expert, Mr Steve Aborisade, says Africa is confronted with a difficult choice between servicing external debt and investing scarce public resources in healthcare, education, food security and job creation.
Aborisade, Senior Advocacy and Marketing Manager, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Nigeria, said this in a statement issued on Friday in Lokoja.
Aborisade said Africa’s debt challenge had moved beyond a fiscal emergency to a major constraint on development and governance.
He said while discussions on the continent’s debt crisis often focused on debt-to-GDP ratios, interest rates and credit ratings, such indicators did not fully capture the impact of debt servicing on citizens.
“When governments spend more repaying creditors than investing in their citizens, debt ceases to be a financial tool and becomes a barrier to development,” he said.
Aborisade cited global estimates showing that about 3.4 billion people live in countries that spend more on debt servicing than on health or education, adding that about two-thirds of African countries faced a similar situation.
He said the trend could not be attributed solely to poor governance or excessive borrowing, but also reflected structural weaknesses in the international financial system.
According to him, high debt servicing costs create a crowding-out effect, leaving governments with fewer resources to build hospitals and schools, expand electricity supply, support agriculture and address climate-related challenges.
He said the problem was compounded by the slow and fragmented nature of debt restructuring.
He noted that countries that defaulted on external debts had, in some cases, spent years negotiating with creditors before securing meaningful relief.
“Even after agreements with official lenders, talks with private creditors remained slow, leaving scarce resources tied up while economic recovery stalled,” he said.
Aborisade said the burden was particularly severe for climate-vulnerable countries, many of which contributed relatively little to global greenhouse gas emissions but faced higher borrowing costs because of perceived climate-related risks.
He described the situation as ironic, saying countries that required affordable financing to adapt to climate change often faced higher costs in accessing funds.
Aborisade said the consequences of debt pressures were ultimately felt by ordinary citizens, particularly women, children and poor communities.
“A government that prioritises debt repayment over healthcare cannot adequately staff hospitals or provide essential medicines, while cuts on education spending deprive young people of skills for the future,” he said.
While acknowledging that corruption and weak institutions contributed to debt problems in some African countries, Aborisade said focusing solely on domestic governance overlooked historical and structural factors.
He linked part of the problem to colonial economic structures that prioritised the extraction of raw materials over industrial diversification.
He said this left many newly independent African states dependent on commodities and vulnerable to external price shocks.
He said these historical inequalities continued to influence the global debt architecture, where African countries had limited voting power in international financial institutions.
According to him, this is in spite of the continent’s large number of countries facing debt-related challenges.
“The restructuring process itself favours creditors.
“Official lenders, private bondholders, multilateral institutions and commercial banks often pursue conflicting interests, prolonging negotiations while debtor countries endure hardship,” he said.
Aborisade said speeding up debt restructuring would not be sufficient if the underlying system remained inequitable.
He proposed four reforms, including stronger collective representation for debtor nations through a coordinated Borrowers’ Forum to strengthen their negotiating position.
He also called for automatic debt-service suspensions during public health emergencies and climate disasters, governance reforms in international financial institutions.
This, he said, would inspire increase in the voice of developing countries, and stronger transparency and responsible-lending standards for both borrowers and creditors.
Aborisade said Africa’s development did not require an end to external borrowing, noting that foreign finance remained important for infrastructure and economic transformation.
“The challenge is ensuring debt becomes a tool for development rather than an obstacle to it.
“Debt should finance opportunity, not postpone it,” he said.
He called for a shift from a system focused on managing recurring debt crises to one that supports sustainable development and protects investment in essential public services.(NAN)
Edited by Uche Anunne