African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD)

The Harare Declaration calls for a 'New Debt movement' to reform the global debt architecture, citing the risks of a debt crisis similar to the 1980s and 1990s. It criticizes current IMF debt sustainability frameworks and private credit ratings for ignoring social and environmental tradeoffs. The document advocates for an African Accountability Mechanism, the creation of regional financial institutions like an African Monetary Fund, and considers measures such as debt cancellation or collective default to break the cycle of indebtedness.

• The landscape of public debt in developing countries has become more complex and risky, characterized by a higher proportion of commercial bonds traded on international markets.
• Current debt sustainability frameworks used by the IMF and private credit rating agencies are flawed because they prioritize a debtor's ability to repay creditors over the social and environmental costs of those payments.
• The global debt architecture is viewed as unbalanced and neo-colonial, with a minority of actors setting rules that marginalize developing countries and perpetuate inequality.
• Existing debt relief initiatives are insufficient because they fail to address structural issues such as transparency and governance, and lack the full participation of all creditors, including private and commercial entities.
• The document proposes the establishment of an African Accountability Mechanism to improve the governance, transparency, and accountability of debt contraction in Africa.
• To overcome the distressed nature of sovereign debt, the declaration urges African governments to consider debt cancellation and collective default, while establishing new regional institutions including an African Monetary Fund, an African Development Bank, and an African Investment Bank.
• The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated debt vulnerabilities, with projections that approximately 39 million Africans would fall into extreme poverty in 2021 and that youth will be burdened by current debt.

APA

African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (n.d.). African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD). https://afrodad.org/sites/default/files/documents/Afrodad%20Harare%20Declaration%20English.pdf

Chicago

African Forum and Network on Debt and Development. African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD). n.d. https://afrodad.org/sites/default/files/documents/Afrodad%20Harare%20Declaration%20English.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=African Forum and Network on Debt and Development |title=African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD) |url=https://afrodad.org/sites/default/files/documents/Afrodad%20Harare%20Declaration%20English.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{africanforumandnetworkondebtanddevelopmentndafrican, author = {{African Forum and Network on Debt and Development}}, title = {{African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD)}}, publisher = {African Forum and Network on Debt and Development}, url = {https://afrodad.org/sites/default/files/documents/Afrodad%20Harare%20Declaration%20English.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }