The Feminist Debt Justice Campaign seeks to challenge the structural injustices embedded in Africa’s debt and development systems and advance a decolonial African feminist vision of economic justice, sovereignty and collective well-being. Grounded in African feminist thought and the recognition that debt is not merely a financial or macroeconomic issue, the campaign examines how historical injustices, patriarchal power relations and neocolonial structures within the global financial architecture shape African economies, constrain development choices and disproportionately burden women and girls.
Africa’s public debt crisis is inseparable from the unequal power relations that govern the global economy. High borrowing costs, mounting interest repayments and restrictive lending conditions limit governments’ capacity to invest in essential public services, social protection, decent work and climate resilience. When debt repayment takes precedence over people’s needs, the consequences are borne disproportionately by women and girls, particularly those working in the informal economy and rural communities, and those living in poverty or facing multiple forms of marginalisation.
Feminist debt injustice is reflected in who bears the costs of debt, whose contributions sustain economies, and whose voices are excluded from decisions about public resources. When public spending is reduced to meet debt obligations, women frequently absorb the resulting social and economic costs through increased unpaid care and domestic work, including caring for children and sick family members, fetching water and securing household necessities. These responsibilities sustain households, communities and economies, yet remain undervalued in conventional economic models and largely invisible in public finance decisions.
The campaign challenges dominant approaches to debt sustainability that prioritise a country's capacity to repay creditors without adequately accounting for the social, historical, ecological and human costs of repayment. It advances a feminist understanding of debt sustainability that places human dignity, the provision of essential services, the recognition and redistribution of care work, and the well-being of communities at the centre of economic policymaking. Debt cannot be considered sustainable when its repayment undermines people's rights, weakens public services or compromises the ability of future generations to live with dignity.
The campaign also recognises the intersection between debt injustice and the climate crisis. African countries face growing climate-related financing needs despite having contributed relatively little to the historical accumulation of global emissions. When climate disasters force governments to borrow for recovery and adaptation, communities already affected by debt distress face an additional burden. Women, whose livelihoods and unpaid labour are closely connected to food systems, natural resources and community care, are often on the frontlines of these overlapping crises. The campaign therefore calls for climate finance that does not deepen debt dependency, alongside recognition of historical responsibility and the need for climate justice.
Drawing on the Maputo Manifesto 2024, the campaign promotes a transformative African feminist economic agenda rooted in decolonisation, historical memory, dignity, justice and resistance to exploitative economic systems. It calls for reforms that move beyond creditor-centred approaches to debt relief towards meaningful debt justice, including debt cancellation and restructuring where necessary, fairer lending and borrowing arrangements, and a reformed global financial architecture that gives African countries greater policy autonomy and decision-making power.
The campaign further advocates for feminist leadership and the meaningful participation of women with feminist values in political, economic and financial decision-making, particularly in debt negotiations, public budgeting and development planning. Women's leadership must extend beyond representation to influence the priorities, institutions and economic models that shape African societies. Their knowledge, lived experiences and contributions to Africa's development must be recognised, valued and reflected in the decisions that determine the continent's future.
Advancing feminist debt justice also requires transforming fiscal systems, strengthening public accountability and ensuring that domestic resources serve the needs of people and communities. The campaign supports fairer taxation, progressive fiscal policies, investment in public services and social protection, and the recognition of care as a central pillar of economic life. It calls for economies that value life over profit, protect the environment and redistribute the social costs that have historically been borne by women and marginalised communities.
Ultimately, the Feminist Debt Justice Campaign seeks to reclaim Africa's economic future by challenging the patriarchal, colonial and neocolonial structures that reproduce debt dependency and feminist debt injustice. It envisions an Africa that is not merely a rule-taker in the global financial system, but an active rule-maker, drawing on its own histories, knowledge systems, resources and feminist leadership to shape an alternative development trajectory.
The campaign calls for feminist debt justice that puts people and the planet before repayments, recognises and redistributes the burden of care, advances feminist leadership, and reclaims Africa's resources and policy autonomy. It seeks a just and decolonial economic order in which debt and development policies uphold human dignity, ecological justice and the collective well-being of present and future generations.