President Tinubu’s UNGA79 Address: Some Key Points

In Nigeria’s national statement delivered at the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) late Tuesday, President Bola Tinubu, made an appeal to global leaders, urging them to prioritize debt forgiveness for Nigeria and other developing nations. The president emphasized the need for relief from multilateral financial institutions and creditors during the 79th Session of the UNGA in New York. Represented by Vice President Kashim Shettima, Tinubu stressed that the nations of the Global South cannot achieve meaningful economic progress without concessions on their overwhelming debt burdens. His call for debt relief and reforms came amid the pressing economic challenges these nations face. In a press release issued by Stanley Nkwocha, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Communications (Office of the Vice President), the Nigerian leader highlighted to the UN how the global debt crisis is crippling countries’ abilities to address the needs of their citizens. He also pointed out that trade barriers and protectionist policies are shattering nations’ aspirations, while unchecked competition is stifling motivation and obstructing global investment opportunities. The Debt Management Office, in its Q1 2024 report, revealed that Nigeria’s total domestic and external debts amounted to ₦121.67 trillion ($91.46 billion). With state governments seeing a 122% increase in external debt servicing in the first half of 2024, the economic strain has been severe, with Kaduna and Lagos states paying the highest servicing costs. During the first half of 2024, Nigerian states witnessed a 122% rise in external debt servicing, reaching ₦139.92 billion, up from ₦63.06 billion in 2023. This increase was driven by escalating borrowing costs due to currency depreciation, which has severely affected state-level spending and fiscal stability. Addressing world leaders, Tinubu stated, “We must ensure that any reform of the international financial system includes comprehensive debt relief measures, to enable sustainable financing for development. “Countries of the global South cannot make meaningful economic progress without special concessions and a review of their current debt burden.” The Nigerian leader also called for the recovery of funds lost through corruption and illicit financial flows. He urged international cooperation to recover and return stolen assets, noting that the return of such funds to their countries of origin is essential under the United Nations Convention against Corruption. “Therefore, the international community must promote practical measures to strengthen international cooperation to recover and return stolen assets and to eradicate safe havens that facilitate illicit flows of funds from developing countries to the developed economies,” The Nigerian leader said. Tinubu expressed concerns over rising nationalism and unilateralism, warning that these trends threaten global peace and cooperation. He argued that such an inward focus detracts from efforts to tackle pressing issues like terrorism, climate change, poverty, food crises, inflation, and growing debt. The President also underscored that multilateralism, rooted in inclusivity, equality, and cooperation, remains the surest path toward addressing these challenges. Reflecting on global conflicts and other ongoing crises, Tinubu highlighted the UN’s failure to achieve its core objectives, stating that billions of dollars are funneled into wars and conflicts rather than resolving issues such as poverty, hunger, and inequality. “Today, these pillars of our organisation are threatened. They risk being broken by the relentless pursuit of individual national priorities rather than the collective needs of the nations that are assembled here today. “While commitment to multilateralism offers us the surest guarantee of global action to address the existential challenges we face, singularity and nationalism are undermining the aspirations towards the peaceful and collective resolution of such challenges. “From last year’s summit, and indeed from previous years, we have carried over the numerous challenges of terrorism, armed conflict, inequality, poverty, racial discrimination, human rights abuses, food crises, hunger, irregular migration, piracy, global pandemics, hyper-inflation, nuclear proliferation, grinding debt burden, climate change, and a host of other vexations. “The continued manifestation of these challenges testifies to our failings rather than to any lofty achievements on our part. Billions of dollars are being committed to the prosecution of wars and the fanning of the embers of conflict,” he said. Tinubu reaffirmed what he termed “Nigeria’s steadfast commitment to the deepening of multilateralism,” just as it did 65 years ago when it joined the United Nations as the 99th member-state. “We remain committed to that desire to remain friendly with all nations and participate actively in the works of the United Nations, as expressed by our founding Prime Minister, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa,” he said. Speaking on Africa, Tinubu expressed deep concern over the resurgence of military coups and unconstitutional changes in governance. He explained that these events underscore the fragility of democracy when not accompanied by economic development, peace, and security. These challenges, he said, must be a central focus of deliberations at the UNGA, as the lack of development and security fuels dissatisfaction among African citizens. “Our people need employment. They need decent livelihoods. They desire good and affordable education and healthcare for their children and families. They need to live in healthy, safe and secure environments. They need hope and they need opportunity,” he added. Tinubu also called for reforms in the global financial system and a fair, transparent multilateral trading regime. He urged that the “Pact for the Future” be used to reposition developing economies and implement concrete measures to overcome their unique challenges. “It is for this and other reasons that we reiterate the call by countries, especially of the global South, for reform of the international financial architecture and promotion of a rules-based, non-discriminatory, open, fair, inclusive, equitable and transparent multilateral trading system,” he noted. Addressing the issue of insecurity, Tinubu highlighted how it has driven citizens into extreme hardship, eroding their trust in democracy. He emphasized that restoring confidence in democratic governance and constitutional order is a responsibility that rests with the global community. He stated, “We cannot build durable societies with the threat of terrorism, banditry and insurgency growing in our countries and regions. Indeed, violent extremism remains an existential threat to both national and international peace, security and

ActionAid Tasks African Leaders On Collaboration To Tackle Debt Crisis 

ActionAid has called on African governments to coordinate collectively for a resolution to debt crises, based on radical renegotiation or debt cancellation, including through advancing this case in climate negotiations; and to pursue alternative economic paths that place quality public services, social and economic justice at the heart of building sustainable and truly sovereign states. The resolution was made by AA Country Directors at the just concluded IMF/ World Bank Annual Meetings in Marrakech, Morocco. They further called on the two Institutions to move away from the failed neoliberal economic model, to stop imposing austerity policies and constraints to public sector wage bills, and instead to support debt cancellation and ambitious and progressive tax reforms nationally and internationally. “The IMF and World Bank have imposed a neo-colonial model of economic development based on exploitation and extraction from the Global South which has given rise to regular debt and economic crises.  “These crises have then been used to justify the imposition of harsh loan conditions and coercive policy advice on African governments, perpetuating dependency and stripping away the capacity of States through cuts to public spending.  “Although some of the rhetoric has changed in recent years, in practice the IMF and World Bank are still attached to this cult of austerity, undermining progress on health, education and other public services and blocking Africa’s ability to respond and adapt to the climate crisis. “ActionAid’s research has shown in particular that IMF enforced cuts and freezes to public sector wage bills have consistently blocked the recruitment of urgently needed teachers, nurses, midwives and other public sector workers.  “We have documented the gendered impact of these cuts, with women being the first to lose access to services, the first to lose opportunities for decent work and the first to absorb the rising tide of unpaid care and domestic work. “Without access to low-cost financing, many African governments now find themselves facing a deeper debt crisis than ever before – with UNCTAD recently finding that the amount spent on interest payments is often higher than spending on either education or health,” they said.  

IMF Advocates Fiscal Adjustments As Solution African Countries’ Debts 

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has urged African governments to re-anchor fiscal policy through a credible medium-term strategy to avoid a debt crisis. According to the Fund in its report ‘How to Avoid a Debt Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa’, it stated that to avoid a debt crisis, African countries seek to achieve key debt targets. The Bretton Woods Institute said the average debt ratio in the region has almost doubled in 10 years adding that the average debt ratio to gross domestic product (GDP) has increased to 60 percent as of 2022, which is a 30 percent rise compared to the figures of 2013. According to the Fund, this is what makes debt repayment costlier. “In most sub-Saharan African countries, fiscal policy focuses excessively on short-term goals and is not guided by a clear medium-term strategy. This lack of anchoring has resulted in frequent breaches of fiscal rules and ever-increasing public debt levels. “A more strategic approach to fiscal policy would be preferable by setting explicit debt targets that integrate key policy trade-offs between debt sustainability and development objectives, rather than focusing narrowly on short-term fiscal deficits. “The paper suggests a novel approach to estimating country-specific medium-term debt anchors, which ensures that debt service costs remain manageable. “The region’s ratio of interest payments to revenue, a key metric to assess debt servicing capacity and predict the risk of a fiscal crisis, has more than doubled since the early 2010s and is now close to four times the ratio in advanced economies,” the IMF said. In the report, the IMF said more than half of the low-income countries on the continent are at high risk or already in debt distress as at the end of last year. The multilateral also said mobilising more domestic revenue through the elimination of tax exemptions or digitalising filing and payment systems is key to avoiding a debt crisis as well. “Sub-Saharan African countries tend to rely excessively on expenditure cuts to reduce their fiscal deficits. “Although this may be warranted in some circumstances, revenue measures, like eliminating tax exemptions or digitalizing filing and payment systems, should play a greater role.” The IMF noted that mobilising domestic revenue is less detrimental to growth in countries where initial tax levels are low, whereas the cost associated with reducing expenditures is particularly high given Africa’s large development needs.