Letter to SA Presidency from Debt Advocates - 14 October.docx

A letter dated 14 October 2025 from a coalition of 165 global and regional civil society and debt justice organisations to President Cyril Ramaphosa, urging South Africa to use its G20 Presidency to lead radical reforms of the international debt architecture to support the Global South, particularly Africa.

• African countries face an "African premium" in borrowing costs, resulting in US$74.5 billion per year in excess interest payments according to a UNDP report. Furthermore, 23 African countries currently spend more on debt costs than on essential development enablers such as education, care, and health.
• The signatories argue that current debt arrangements under the G20’s Common Framework are inadequate because restructuring processes are too slow, debt reductions are too shallow, and there is an unequal sharing of responsibility between private and public creditors.
• The coalition expresses concern over a lack of tangible progress during South Africa's G20 Presidency, noting that the Finance Track Communiqué from the 3rd Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meeting provided no new information and that the African Expert Panel has struggled to influence debt issues within the G20.
• The letter calls for the creation of a UN Framework Convention on sovereign debt to establish a new architecture centered on human rights and equity. This framework would prohibit austerity measures that undermine essential services and bind private creditors to human rights standards.
• The advocates propose several specific institutional reforms, including the establishment of an African Credit Rating Agency, a public Global debt registry for all external sovereign loans and bonds, and a "Borrowers Club" to facilitate cooperation and transparency among debtor countries as a counterweight to the Paris Club and London Coalition.
• The coalition requests the development of binding principles for responsible lending and borrowing, the sale of IMF gold reserves to fund debt relief, and the total cancellation of all illegitimate and unsustainable debts from all creditors.

APA

Institute for Economic Justice (n.d.). Letter to SA Presidency from Debt Advocates - 14 October.docx. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Letter-to-SA-Presidency-from-Debt-Advocates-14-October.docx.pdf

Chicago

Institute for Economic Justice. Letter to SA Presidency from Debt Advocates - 14 October.docx. n.d. https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Letter-to-SA-Presidency-from-Debt-Advocates-14-October.docx.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Institute for Economic Justice |title=Letter to SA Presidency from Debt Advocates - 14 October.docx |url=https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Letter-to-SA-Presidency-from-Debt-Advocates-14-October.docx.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{instituteforeconomicjusticendletter, author = {{Institute for Economic Justice}}, title = {{Letter to SA Presidency from Debt Advocates - 14 October.docx}}, publisher = {Institute for Economic Justice}, url = {https://iej.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Letter-to-SA-Presidency-from-Debt-Advocates-14-October.docx.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }