As the IMF and World Bank Spring meetings get underway, Christian leaders from across Africa have joined with UK voices in calling on the UK Government to lead the world in compelling private lenders to cancel debts that are plunging communities in low-income countries into hunger and poverty.

In a letter the Foreign Secretary and the Treasury, the Anglican Bishops from across Africa and the United Kingdom warn that “unsustainable debt has been inflicting immense suffering upon people across the African continent for far too long.”

The African leaders explain they “recognise that debt is a structural issue baked into our current economic system” and put to the UK Government that “the African Union’s theme for 2025 “Justice for Africans and People of African Descent Through Reparations” signifies a monumental shift in the weight given to calls for reparative justice.”

The intervention follows progress of the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill, led by Labour MP Bambos Charalambous, which the MP says would “remove the overbearing burden on countries that are seeking to emerge from a debt crisis by pausing debt payments and preventing creditors from suing while a country is negotiating in good faith.”

Approximately 90% of the debt owed to private creditors by lower income countries is governed by English law. The current debt crisis, according to experts, is rooted in the 2008 financial crisis and now compounded by subsequent shocks including Covid-19, the ongoing climate crisis and the Russia-Ukraine war.

A report published last year by the international development charity, Christian Aid, found African governments spent over 50 times more on external debt payments than the entire UK aid budget to the continent in 2023 with 32 spending more on debt than healthcare and 25 spending more on debt than education.

In a foreword to the report, the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown said: “The scale of this inequality between Africans and the rest of the world is so great that I am not sure the world will ever forgive us for failing to deliver urgent debt restructuring.”

Ahead of the General Election last year, polling commissioned by Christian Aid showed (54%) of the public believed the UK Government should introduce legislation to help ensure private lenders play their part in cancelling debt when lower income countries are in crisis.

The Ven. Kofi deGraft-Johnson, General Secretary of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa (CAPA):

“Unsustainable debt has pushed many African nations to crisis point. Money desperately needed in health, education, tackling the effects of climate change and other public services is instead flowing to private companies governed by English law. The Christian faith has much to say about resisting oppression, and I stand with my fellow church leaders from the Africa and the UK who call on the UK Government to end this injustice. The UK Government can and should pass legislation that would see debt relief delivered to lower-income countries.”

Rt Revd Dr Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford, said:

“Many lower-income nations are in the grip of a debt crisis which is devastating, urgent and unjust. 34 African countries are spending more on external debt repayments than on healthcare and/or education. A substantial proportion of these debt repayments are to private creditors based in the UK, who charge the highest rates of interest to the poorest countries.

“Unsustainable debt is a structural injustice in our global economic system. 25 years on from the Jubilee Debt Campaign we recall again the biblical concept of Jubilee, a practice that challenges the perpetuation of oppression and brings hope of restoration and flourishing.

“In solidarity and hope I stand with other African and British church leaders and call on the UK Government to bring in new legislation to compel private creditors to provide more debt relief. It is in the power of the UK Government to pass this legislation, and we urge them to do so.”

Labour MP Bambos Charalambous, lead sponsor of the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill, said:

“Like many, I’m proud of the UK’s historic reputation as a global humanitarian leader. However, amidst the cuts to the UK aid budget, now more than ever we must play our part in ending the debt crisis that is holding back lower-income countries from investing more in their health and education systems.

“The international debt architecture is clearly failing and that’s why my Private Members’ Bill, the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Bill, is so important. It would remove the overbearing burden on countries that are seeking to emerge from a debt crisis by pausing debt payments and preventing creditors from suing while a country is negotiating in good faith.

“My Bill is not a silver bullet, but rebuilding trust between creditors and debtors is a vital first step towards resolving this debt crisis, and it wouldn’t cost the UK taxpayer a penny. The last debt crisis was allowed to drag on for two decades at a devastating cost to communities around the world. We must not repeat that mistake this Jubilee Year.”

Labour MP Sarah Champion, Chair of the International Development Committee, said:

“The aid cuts will undermine our soft power as well as years of progress in areas such as healthcare, education, clean water and sustainable development. Aid has a critical role to play in supporting millions of marginalised people across the world and I will continue to challenge this decision.

“But, there is something else the government should urgently advance too – and which it can do at no cost to the taxpayer. It can play an outsized role in tackling the debt crisis facing low-income countries – a crisis that is also diverting investment from health and education and taking these countries into a negative spiral.

“The UK has a unique role to play in unlocking debt relief for lower income countries, because it is where the debts of private lenders are governed. As my committee recommended two years ago – and is just as relevant today – the government could and, now more than ever, should, bring in legislation to ensure private creditors provide more debt relief enabling low-income countries to invest in areas such as health and education. This is a cost-free measure that this government should get done.”

Patrick Watt, Chief Executive of Christian Aid, said:

“African church leaders are leading the call on the UK Government to take action on unsustainable debt. They see at first hand the cost of the debt crisis in their communities, in terms of crumbling schools and clinics, and economic decline.

“The UK can break the logjam through legislation which drives private creditors to the table and helps forge an agreement on a comprehensive workout. Without this, indebted African countries risk a lost decade.”