African Activists Unite at Jubilee South Assembly

Report from Africa Jubilee South Assembly, Day 1.

By NEIL WATKINS, National Coordinator, Jubilee USA Network

August 6, 2008

I am writing today from the opening day of the Africa Jubilee South Assembly, being held in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s an historic gathering of African debt and development campaigners from more than 20 African countries.

It’s happening in a very appropriate place for a discussion of the continuing debt crisis - Kenya. Kenya has been excluded from debt cancellation deals to date despite the fact that 22.8 percent of the Kenyan population lives on less than $1 a day and 58.3 percent live on less than $2 per day.  The government spends 1 of every $5 in its budget servicing debt – more than it spends on health or education.

The meeting is also taking place at a critical time for the whole African continent.  Even for the 19 African nations that have received debt cancellation – including Kenya’s neighbors in East Africa, Tanzania and Uganda – a new debt crisis is emerging.  That debt crisis is being fueled by the dramatic increase in food and fuel prices.

I spoke with a taxi driver here in Nairobi who explained to me that the cost of fuel here has gone up 30% in just the past 6 months – which he cant afford. That increase is hard enough for Americans – it’s untenable for Kenyans. Even worse, the price of food is skyrocketing here.

All of this threatens a deepening debt crisis and a renewed crisis for those countries that have gotten debt cancellation. It’s a difficult moment. But these challenges make the fact that this historic meeting is happening even more important. Africans here are coming together to create solutions and strategies to address these problems.

In one of the sessions this morning, the discussion focused on the links between debt, the food crisis, and livelihoods. Hawa from Grassroots Africa in Ghana told us how policies of the international financial institutions in Ghana had forced the local rice industry to collapse in the 1990s.  Today Ghana is dependent on imported rice and has to pay $42/bag for rice, which is impossible for poor families.

A colleague from Action Aid Malawi told a more hopeful story of how Malawi had resisted some of the IMF’s advice.  The IMF had been telling Malawi not to subsidize agriculture in order to get debt cancellation. But since receiving cancellation, Malawi has used some increased policy space to buck the IMF’s advice and reinstated some subsidies, which has increased food production dramatically.

This afternoon, the conversation shifted to the critical issue of the links between debt and climate change. Leo Atakpu of the Nigeria-based African Network on Economic and Environmental Justice (ANEEJ)  explained, “So many issues that are key issues are arising from climate change taking place in Africa. The emission of greenhouse gases has not been a problem created by Africa – it contributes only 4% of greenhouse gas emissions, but its consequences are borne by Africa.” As an example he cited Lake Chad which has shrunk by 10% in the past decade –due to drought and desertification brought on by climate change.

As Atakpu explained, the UNDP says $86 billion is needed to help countries adapt to climate change. But the UN Framework Convention on Climate put in place plan for $1.5 billion.  Resources must be found elsewhere. How will that money be raised? Now IFIs like the World Bank are looking to be involved to raise some of these resources – including through massive new loans.  Grants, not loans are needed to help countries adapt to climate.  The North owes the South a climate debt, not the reverse.

I am here to interview some of the dozens of African debt campaigners here about Jubilee USA’s plans for the next 4 years. I am interviewing folks to see what their priorities are and what they think we should focus on in the US in our campaigning in the years ahead.

I’m also carrying a video camera and interviewing folks here about what they think the next US Treasury Secretary should focus on. I’m getting some great footage. If I can figure out how to transfer video from the camera to my computer to the internet, I’ll post some here later this week! If not, video soon after I return next week. Stay tuned!

Comments

[Guru of Debt]

Looks like it was a great event for debt reduction. Hopefully it helped out many people.

[Guru of Debt]

Looks like it was a great event for debt reduction. Hopefully it helped out many people.

[Sergey]

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[Jennifer Bisping, IMF Civil Society Liaison]

The ActionAid account is simply incorrect. The IMF did not "tell Malawi" to reduce spending on agriculture subsidies, in particular the fertilizer and seed subsidy program, to get debt relief. There has never been any Fund conditionality on the amount of fertilizer and seed subsidies, including during the run-up to HIPC and MDRI debt relief. On the contrary, the government's ability to provide the subsidized fertilizers has been substantially improved by its efforts to strengthen fiscal management, mobilize resources, and prioritize expenditure in the context of its IMF-supported program. The IMF is very pleased to be associated with the Malawi government's efforts to reduce poverty. Under the current PRGF arrangement, the authorities have not only improved macroeconomic stability but also freed up some 12 percent of GDP in fiscal space since mid-2004. The authorities have chosen to use some of this fiscal space to expand the subsidy program over this period (both before and after HIPC debt relief), with the Fund's full support.

Jennifer Bisping, IMF Civil Society Liaison