Africa Shouldn't Pay Its Debt, Says Annan's Adviser

7 July 2004

Addis Ababa — A SPECIAL adviser to the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said African countries should refuse to repay their foreign debts. Mr Annan's economic adviser Jeffrey Sachs first called on developed countries to cancel Africa's debts. But failing that, he said Africa should ignore its $201 billion (£109 billion) debt burden.

Economic analysis, he said, had shown that it was impossible for Africa to achieve its development goal of halving poverty if it had to repay the loans. "The time has come to end this charade," he said at the annual summit of the heads of state of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. "The debts are unaffordable. If they won't cancel the debts, I would suggest obstruction; you do it yourselves."

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