Rich, Polluting Countries Owe Africa at least $36 Trillion in Climate Debt

A new report by ActionAid has revealed that rich, polluting countries owe Africa at least $36 trillion in climate debt, an amount vastly surpassing the continent’s external debts. The report, titled Who Owes Who? External Debts, Climate Debts and Reparations in the Jubilee Year, comes ahead of the African Union (AU) Summit in Addis Ababa, urging urgent financial justice for African nations.

According to the report, low and lower middle income countries worldwide owe a total of $1.45 trillion in foreign debt. However, the climate debt owed to these nations by wealthier countries stands at $107 trillion, over 70 times their total external debt. In Africa’s case, the unpaid climate debt alone is over 50 times greater than the total foreign debt owed by the continent.

The findings highlight how African governments are forced to prioritize debt repayments over essential public services such as healthcare, education and climate action. In 2024, lower income African countries paid $60 billion in debt servicing, sacrificing critical investments in national development. Meanwhile, rich nations continue to evade responsibility for their historical and ongoing contributions to climate change, economic exploitation and unfulfilled financial pledges.

By Ruvarashe Gora

The report also exposes the deep rooted financial inequalities within the global economic system. African nations face significantly higher borrowing costs than wealthier countries, with interest rates averaging 9.8%, compared to 0.8% for Germany. ActionAid argues that this colonial era financial structure keeps Africa in a cycle of dependency and underdevelopment.

“It is a travesty that African nations are crushed under the weight of foreign debt, while the world’s richest countries evade their responsibility for the climate crisis and historical injustices,” said Arthur Larok, Secretary General of ActionAid International.

The African Union has declared 2025 the “Year of Reparations,” presenting a crucial opportunity to address both historical injustices and modern financial exploitation. ActionAid and other advocacy groups are calling for:
• A new UN Framework Convention on Debt to replace the IMF centered global financial system.
• Debt cancellation as part payment for climate debt and reparations owed by wealthier nations.
• A complete overhaul of the colonial debt architecture that has trapped Africa in a cycle of economic hardship.

Andrew Mamedu, Executive Director of ActionnAid Nigeria, emphasized that “African countries cannot overcome the debt crisis or climate change impacts without debt cancellation and structural reform”