COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF ONE-DAY NATIONAL DEBT CONFERENCE HELD IN ABUJA, NIGERIA ON 9TH JULY 2025

Preamble:

The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ) in collaboration with African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) organized a one-day National Debt Conference with the theme “Nigeria’s Rising Debt: Advancing Debt Relief through Reparations and Reparative Justice”. The National Debt Conference was attended by diverse stakeholders including Government Ministries, Departments, and Agencies, Civil Society Organizations, Academia, Development Partners, the Media and Nigerian citizens.

The objectives of the conference were:

• To critically examine Nigeria’s current debt crisis through the lens of reparative justice and identify policy frameworks for advancing debt relief rooted in historical redress and equity.
• To galvanize multi-stakeholder advocacy at national and international levels for debt cancellation, fair debt practices, and reparations for historical and systemic injustices that have undermined Nigeria’s economic development.

Observations

The participants made the following observations:

1. That Nigeria’s current debt of $97,238.52bn or N149.38 trillion debt might become unsustainable given that the country is close to the 40% threshold of Debt-to-GDP ratio
2. That past and present governments have continued to rely on borrowing from IMF and World Bank to finance some of its projects without taking into cognizance the impact of such borrowing on the economy
3. That we must recognize the legacy of colonial exploitation, structural adjustment programs, and unfair global trade and financial systems that have shaped the vulnerabilities of our economy. These historical injustices have created a cycle of dependency and underdevelopment, from which we must now break free
4. That debt must remain a tool for development, not a trap that perpetuates underdevelopment.
5. That borrowing indeed is not the problem but what to do with the borrowed funds. Seeing that previous and current governments continue to borrow for projects but end up investing paltry fractions of the loans on projects that do not yield return on investment or build projects that do not benefit the people.
6. That illicit financial flows (IFFs) remain one of the mechanisms through which imperialism and its local collaborators (the African ruling class) continue to loot our commonwealth. Which has exacerbated Africa’s economic problem as huge sums of money are stashed in safe heavens abroad by corrupt politicians and their business allies. 
7. Due acknowledgement of the current administration’s consistent effort towards servicing Nigeria’s debts and recent repayment of IMF loan.
8. That the time has come for a new paradigm -one that sees debt relief not as a charity but as a matter of reparative Justice.
9. It was time we mobilized resources domestically and reduce borrowing for services but rather loans should be for capital projects that can repay itself without mortgaging Nigerians’ future  
10. Participants observed that as a strategy to reduce borrowing, we should encourage patronage of made in Nigeria products in line with the ‘Nigeria First’ Policy 

Resolutions 

The conference participants made the following resolutions:

1. Participants resolved that African countries including Nigeria should not negotiate loans on the basis of debts to GDP ratio in order not to encourage unnecessary borrowings that are not sustainable.
2. That any subsequent borrowings should be for capital projects and not for services or less important projects that cannot make any return in paying the loans back. 
3. Organized African civil society and social movements must sustain the demand for reparations and payment of ecological debt in all global meetings. And to do so in liaison with honest and genuine civil society groups in the global north to mount pressure on the governments of the global north.
4.  African civil society groups as a matter of cohesion, must link up with the Caribbean Commission (CARICOM) and other international non-governmental organizations to strategize on how to sustain the demand for reparations and reparative justice for development.
5. Transparency and accountability should be encouraged any time we are negotiating new loans on behalf of the nations in order not to mortgage the future of the populace   
6. The organized CSOs should also challenge the European nations that have returned or still holding onto African artefacts to declare and share museum proceeds for the duration they have been on display and earned income in the foreign museums.
7. The need for CSOs to support African Borrowers Club similar to the Paris Club where they can negotiate for better deals. 
8. CSOs should reach out to the sub-continental bodies such as ECOWAS, Arab league, SADCs, the East African Economic Committee, and the Maghreb region and encourage them to join their voices to the struggle for reparative justice. 
9. That there is need for credible debt audit from the local, state to the federal level
10. CSOs should ratchet up calls for debt cancellation or repudiation as a response to the who owes who question

Conclusion 

Nigeria, and indeed Africa are at crossroads, and as part of the global community faced with the poly-crisis of climate emergency, COVID-19, the Ukraine War, the Middle East War, Artificial Intelligence, Irregular Migration and the crippling debt crisis as few examples. These crises have hit African Countries the most leaving in its toll, poverty, underdevelopment, insecurity and conflicts, unemployment amongst several others. 

It is against this backdrop that the calls for debt repudiation, reparations and reparative justice for Africa must be seen as a patriotic duty for all stakeholders.