Unpacking African workers’ demand for debt cancellation

By Michael Oche

On Friday, August 29, 2025, the streets of Accra, Ghana’s capital, throbbed with chants, placards, and the determined steps of workers from across Africa. Hundreds of trade unionists and their civil society allies from Ghana to Nigeria, Kenya to South Africa, marched shoulder to shoulder in unison, demanding one thing: cancel Africa’s debt.

The demand of the workers was not spontaneous. It was the culmination of years of frustration, as governments across Africa buckle under the weight of loans while citizens pay the price in crowded classrooms, underfunded hospitals, and poor wages. The march in Accra gave voice to a growing resolve among workers: that debt cancellation is no longer negotiable, but essential.

For some, the big questions are: How did Africa get here? and Why should Africa’s debt be cancelled? For African workers and their allies, the answer lies in both justice and practicality. The continent’s debt is not just a mismanagement problem; it is rooted in centuries of structural injustice.

“The current debt situation Africa finds itself in is by design,” ITUC-Africa General Secretary Akhator Joel Odigie argued at the rally.

From colonial plunder to unfair trade regimes, from the flight of billions annually through illicit financial flows to IMF-imposed austerity, the system is rigged to keep Africa dependent. Despite decades of borrowing to fund infrastructure, public services, and economic recovery, little has changed. Africa remains poor, and in more debts.

Therefore, the rally, led by the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa) and its allies, was more than a protest. It was a statement of continuity with Africa’s liberation struggles.

As Odigie put it, “Debt is part of the structural colonization that Africa is still wedded to. Until we deal with it, we cannot break free.”

He pressed further: “Debt cancellation must be recognised not as charity but as reparative justice, addressing centuries of exploitation and restoring Africa’s fiscal sovereignty. Africa is not a debtor continent; Africa is a creditor continent. We are owed, not the other way around, when you account for slavery, colonial exploitation, and the ongoing bleeding of our resources through illicit financial flows and unfair economic systems.”

Workers argue that Africa’s debt crisis is also fueled by a combination of corruption, mismanagement and predatory lending from international financial institutions, private creditors, and foreign governments. High-interest loans, coupled with unfavorable repayment terms, have also left many countries in a cycle of perpetual borrowing. For instance, due to credit rating system determined by global bodies like the IMF, African nations pay interest rates eight times than a country like Germany and four times higher than the United States of America.

The numbers bear out the urgency. Africa’s total sovereign debt now exceeds $2.1 trillion. Twenty-two countries are at high risk of distress, while four, including Ghana itself, are already in default. Seven African countries spend more on interest payments than on education, while 25 spend more servicing debt than funding healthcare. In effect, governments are cutting social spending to pay creditors, leaving citizens poorer, sicker, and more vulnerable.

This is not simply about mismanagement at home. In one year alone, the continent received $162 billion in loans, aid, and remittances, yet lost $203 billion through illicit financial flows and profit repatriation, a net drain of $41 billion.

In Ghana, Kenya, and Zambia, debt servicing has consistently outstripped spending on schools and hospitals — a reality that translates into overcrowded classrooms, doctors on strike, and families struggling without safety nets.

Africa is trapped in a circle of debt because the very act of borrowing to solve one crisis often sows the seeds of the next. Governments take loans to cover budget shortfalls or stabilise their currencies, but the bulk of their revenues end up servicing old debts instead of funding schools, hospitals, or industries that could generate long-term growth.

To qualify for these loans, lenders impose conditions such as cutting subsidies, privatising public utilities, or freezing public sector wages that weaken social protections and spark unrest. When economies falter under these pressures, governments are left with little choice but to borrow again, this time at even higher interest rates from private creditors. Over time, the cycle tightens: servicing debt outpaces investment in people, forcing nations to remain dependent on new loans just to keep their economies afloat.

“Africa’s future cannot be built on the burden of illegitimate debt,” one organizer declared.

The Accra rally climaxed in the submission of a petition to the Ghanaian government. Signed by ITUC-Africa General Secretary Akhator Joel Odigie, the letter carried the weight of Africa’s organized labour and its allies. “Africa is drowning in debt… This is not just a financial challenge; it is a human development and democratic crisis,” the petition declared.

Beyond lamentation, the petition set out eight concrete demands – from total and unconditional debt cancellation to the creation of African financial institutions by 2027.

Among the boldest proposals were demands for a UN Sovereign Debt Workout Framework to replace the “failed” G20 system; an African Doctrine on Debt, exempting climate and security spending from debt sustainability tests and the establishment of an African Monetary and Stability Fund and an African Credit Rating Agency.

The petition also called for curbing “predatory practices” by vulture funds and demanded fairer representation of Africa in global financial institutions. It also called for full transparency in borrowing – publishing loan agreements, releasing debt versus social spending scorecards, and requiring parliamentary approval for every deal.

The symbolism of August 29 reverberates beyond Accra. The rally by the workers demonstrates growing national and continental resolve to confront the debt crisis in Africa. More importantly, it signals that Africa’s workers are no longer content with back-room policy debates. They are moving the conversation to the streets, the squares, and the global stage.

At the heart of the campaign is a reframing. Debt cancellation is no longer presented as an economic concession but as reparative justice, a demand rooted in history and directed toward the future. The Accra march made clear that Africa’s workers are not merely pleading for relief; they are demanding sovereignty, dignity, and the right to break free from a system designed to keep them perpetually in arrears.