The National Assembly recently approved the 2021 budget proposal submitted by the federal government of Nigeria. As the nation grapples with the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic, here’s what you need to know about Nigeria’s government priorities and allocations: The 2021 budget is higher by 26% from last year’s budget (N13.6 trillion vs N10.8 trillion). There was an increase in debt service allocation. In fact, debt servicing is almost 3 times more than total allocation to education...
Amadou Mahtar Ba, a member of the Africa Policy Advisory Board of ONE, is sharing why debt relief is crucial for Africa to recover from COVID-19. The economic and health costs to Africa as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are unprecedented by any measure. With the death toll rising above 50,000 and more than two million confirmed infections so far, the continent has many reasons to be worried. So far, COVID-19 lockdowns have triggered the first continent-wide recession in 25...
This year, in the face of a global pandemic, the fight against global poverty and inequality became tougher, but more important than ever. Our tireless activists fought for fair deals on debt, vaccine access, aid budgets, and more. Hundreds of thousands of global activists signed petitions, completed surveys, tweeted at or sent emails to politicians, attended briefing calls, shared messages of solidarity, or danced to our anthem “Stand Together.” Here’s a quick look at some of what ONE and our activists...
Last week, G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors decided to extend the debt service suspension initiative (DSSI) until the end of June 2021, accepting that more must be done to help the world’s most vulnerable countries. They also agreed to a new initiative that would go further on debt relief – including by bringing private-sector creditors into the fold. The World Bank also announced that it will consider providing more emergency COVID-19 relief, although, unfortunately, it would not suspend...
Dame Minouche Shafik is the director of the London School of Economics. We interviewed Dame Minouche as part of our #PassTheMic series. Here’s some of what she had to say in the interview. The biggest challenge we currently face with coronavirus is — and it seems obvious to say this — that it’s a global pandemic. So unless we solve it everywhere, we will never solve it. On the health side, a global response is essential for solving this pandemic. Otherwise,...
The costs of the COVID-19 pandemic are going to be monumental. Africa alone is estimated to need US$100-$200 billion to address the impact. In higher income countries, governments have stepped forward with trillions in economic stimulus packages. But the majority of developing countries do not have the money to cover the costs of this pandemic. Debt relief is one of the fastest, most effective means of freeing up cash in developing country budgets. The recent G20 agreement to suspend debt...