With 25 African countries in distress or at high risk of over-indebtedness, Lomé has been the scene of high-level political and financial mobilization since May 12, 2025, and will continue until May 14, 2025. Co-organized by the African Union Commission and the Togolese government, the African Union Conference on Public Debt brings together heads of state, finance ministers, central bank governors, technical and financial partners, as well as representatives of civil society.
Gathered under the theme of the African Public Debt Management Agenda: Restoring and Preserving Debt Sustainability, the participants in this African Union conference on public debt aim to define a unified continental strategy. The goal is to transform debt from an obstacle to development into a true catalyst, thus addressing a crisis that is hindering progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Agenda 2063.
« We are meeting here in a context where the rules of the international game are changing rapidly, but rarely to the benefit of Africa. This is why we must now ask fundamental questions about what sustainable debt truly is, what financial sovereignty means, and what shared responsibilities exist in Africa and beyond. »
Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, President of the Council – Togo
The stakes are high: $1,152 billion of external debt was recorded at the end of 2023, compared to $1,120 billion in 2022. Debt service has climbed to $163 billion in 2024, almost three times the amount paid in 2010. And to hope to meet its development commitments, the continent will still need to mobilize between $1,300 and $1,600 billion in the coming years.
« Let us leave here with a renewed vision, a vision where debt is no longer synonymous with crisis but with capacity, where our economies are built not on extraction and aid but on innovation, value addition, and equity, and where we act not as debtors pleading for relief but as partners demanding reforms. » Let’s redefine the African debt narrative. »
John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic – Ghana
The African Union Conference on Public Debt in Lomé, Togo, is exploring financial instruments better suited to the continent’s realities, such as green bonds or loans indexed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It aims to harmonize African positions vis-à-vis creditors, whether state, multilateral, or private.
