Nigeria and some other African countries have written a letter to the Group of 20 (G20) countries to prolong their debt servicing timeline.
They took the step to ensure that debt servicing obligations do not cripple their economies.
The plea is contained in a letter by the Ministers of Finance of Ghana, Senegal, and Egypt, on behalf of African Ministers of Finance and Central Bank Governors.
It was copied to the Chairperson of G20 Chairperson, African Union (AU) Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF) President, and The World Bank.
In the letter, the African Ministers of Finance and Central Bank governors said: “We ask for immediate liquidity support akin to the global response during the COVID-19 pandemic to help support our economies.
“The end of the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI) in December 2021 meant that countries are due to resume payments on their debt obligations, despite a deteriorating global context, particularly for middle and low-income economies on the African continent.
“Given the new crisis, we ask that the G20 members extend the DSSI for two more years and reschedule the deferred interest payments for over five years.”
