African leaders and development experts are calling for immediate international debt relief as a growing public sector crisis hampers vital services across the continent.
In a high-level meeting in Addis Ababa, finance ministers from 12 African Union member states pushed for suspension of external debt payments and new financing to support the public sector. According to Al Jazeera, they warned that without urgent intervention, health, education, and infrastructure systems are at risk of collapse.
The African Development Bank estimates that more than half of all African nations are currently operating in debt distress or at high risk of it. Many governments are struggling to fund basic public services and wages amid…