A feminist approach to debt

The debt challenges facing many African countries reside not only in the borrowing but increasingly on the rigidity of the debt architecture and its inability to adjust to the changing creditor and debtor landscape. Legal and policy frameworks have been slow to adjust to the increasing number of private/commercial lenders; emerging bilateral lenders such China, Gulf States; and the role of credit rating agencies. The gaps in national legal and policy frameworks have left African economies vulnerable to difficulties in dealing with their creditors. Similarly, laws and policies empowering various arms of government such the legislature and the judiciary have tended to be piecemeal with monopoly executive power often determining borrowing. At the heart of Africa’s current debt situation, is inequality that is multi-layered and problems of debt governance that need redressing. At the inequality is entrenched in the neo-liberal and neo-colonial approaches that assume a few can make rules for the many. At the national level, there has been a capture of the social contract from the citizens by the private
sector that threatens to erode social cohesion and the social contract, entrench insecurity, and dampen productivity growth. This is driven by the lack of transparency and accountability in debt contraction processes and how public resources are used. This multi-layered inequality means that much needed public investments in social and productive sectors to eradicate poverty, reduce inequality and fund the
Covid-19 vaccines are being lost. Lack of access to public services hurts those in the lowest income categories, particularly women, both in rural and urban informal settlements, and the youth. It goes without saying, a new and differentiated approach is needed if Africa is to be a rule maker
and not a rule taker. The inaugural African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD I) is about a ‘New Debt movement’ and outlook to issues of domestic resource mobilisation and international development finance mechanisms on the African continent. This new direction is further justified by the evolving context of covid-19 pandemic and other unexpected shocks that have exposed the weaknesses of the international financial system and increased the vulnerabilities of developing countries to unsustainable borrowing to cope with current challenges. This has increased the need for civil society to mobilise, organise, and re-awaken advocacy on debt and influence policymakers at country and regional levels on prudent debt management and equitable investment in public services. AfCoDD further issued its Harare Declaration that adopts as part of alternative approaches, a feminist lens to macroeconomic research, analysis, and policy formulation that is in tandem with the African Union’s Agenda 2063. The AfCoDD further seeks to provide a platform for indigenous knowledge to be produced and showcased in line with the decolonisation of research on debt and development issues. In collaboration with NAWI-AfriFem, produced this publication “A Feminist Approach to Debt” to advance the African voice through Pan African feminist lens and the Pan African feminist principles outlined in the African Feminist Charter to inform common position on debt transparency, responsible lending and borrowing, and curbing IFFs endorsed by the AU, all towards making Africa a rule-maker and not a rule-taker.

The Artcle originally fosted on the NAWI – Afrifem Macroeconomics collective website https://www.nawi.africa/a-feminist-approach-to-debt/