Home Law International Law and Sustainable Development: Grounds for Cancellation of Africa Debts
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

International Law and Sustainable Development: Grounds for Cancellation of Africa Debts

  • Brian-Vincent Ikejiaku EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: July 18, 2023

Abstract

As of April 2020, the IMF categorised seven African countries as being in debt distress, whilst identifying twelve more that were at high risk of becoming distress. It is no longer a secret that considered immutable and eternally binding, debt by the global south (i.e., poor developing African countries) has become a tool for imperial powers in the post-colonial world to enforce and perpetuate their dominance over the global south. This is despite serious global crises that emerge from, and/or were caused by the rich countries of the global north; specifically, the negative effects of the global financial crisis of 2008, devastating impact of Covid-19 pandemic, and impact of Russia–Ukraine war on the African economies and contribution to these debt vulnerabilities. Yet, the rich countries of the global north have insisted on these poor countries to continue financing their debts. The paper considers how African countries could legally cancel the repayment of the debts by relying on the principles of international law (such as pacta sunt servanda, limit to legal obligation to pay, force majeure, State of Necessity or rebus sic stantibus) and States’ declarations to commitment to sustainable development agenda (such as the European Union’s response to the adoption of the 2030 Agenda featured in its Commission’s 2016 Communication) could be used as justifying grounds for cancellation of Africa debts. The paper draws on international law and development in the light of dependency and postcolonial theories and employs the human rights-based approach, interdisciplinary and critical-analytical perspective and using qualitative empirical evidence from rich countries and institutions of the global north and poor developing countries of the global south for analysis.


Corresponding author: Brian-Vincent Ikejiaku, School of Law, Faculty of Management, Law & Social Sciences, The University of Bradford, Director of Research Bradford Law School, West Yorkshire, BD7 1DP, UK, E-mail:

Funding source: Bradford Law School

Award Identifier / Grant number: 001

References

African Forum and Network on Debt and Development, Nigeria: Foreign Debts Stolen Wealth, IFIs and The West, A Case Study (AFRODAD: 2007).Search in Google Scholar

Akeredolu, Fikayo, China’s Role in Restructuring Debt in Africa, University of Oxford, The Oxford University Politics BLOG, OXPOL, DIPR (2023).Search in Google Scholar

Allen, Franklin, and Giovannetti, Giorgia The Effects of the financial Crisis on sub-saharan Africa, 1 Review of Development Finance, no. 1 (2011).10.1016/j.rdf.2010.10.002Search in Google Scholar

Andrews, Kehinde, The New Age of Empire: How Racism & Colonialism Still Rule the World (UK: Penguin Random House, 2021).Search in Google Scholar

AU, Impact of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) on the African economy, available at: https://au.int/sites/default/files/documents/38326-doc-covid-19_impact_on_african_economy.pdf, accessed April 12, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Bade, Onimode (eds.), The IMF, the World Bank and the African Debt, The Economic Impact (London: Zed Books Publication Ltd, 1981).Search in Google Scholar

Baldwin, Richard, and Evenett, Simon (ed.), The Collapse of Global Trade Murky Protectionism, and the Crises: Recommendation for the G20, Centre for Economic Policy Research ‘CEPR’ (2009).Search in Google Scholar

Baloro, Louis, African Responses to the debt crisis: the Relevance of public international law, 23 The Comparative and International Law Journal of Southern Africa, no. 2 (1990).Search in Google Scholar

Baran, Paul, The Political Economy of Growth (New York: Monthly Review Press, 1957).Search in Google Scholar

Bardhan, Pranab, Does globalisation Help or Hurt the world’s poor?: Overview/Globalisation and poverty, Scientific American, available at: <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/does-globalisation-help-o-2006-04/>, accessed April 9, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Birdsall, Nancy, Asymmetric Globalisation: Global Markets Require Good Global Politics: (Brookings, 2012).Search in Google Scholar

Bradlow, Daniel, Sovereign Debt Architecture, A Proposal for a New Approach to African Debt, Spring 2022, available at: <https://justmoney.org/daniel-bradlow-a-proposal-for-a-new-approach-toafrican-debt/>.10.2139/ssrn.4120297Search in Google Scholar

Broberg, Morten, & Sano, Hans-Otto Strengths and Weaknesses in a Human Rights-Based Approach to International Development: an Analysis of a Rights-Based Approach to Development Assistance Based on Practical Experiences, 2 The International Journal of Human Rights, Issue 5 (2018).10.1080/13642987.2017.1408591Search in Google Scholar

Brunk, Ingrid and Hakimi, Monica, Russia Ukraine, and the Future world order, 116 American Journal of International Law, no. 4 (2022).10.1017/ajil.2022.69Search in Google Scholar

Bulow, Jeremy, Reinhart, Carmen, Rogoff, Kenneth, and Trebesch, Christoph The debt pandemic, international monetary fund (IMF), available at: <https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2020/09/debt-pandemic-reinhart-rogoff-bulow-trebesch>, accessed April 12, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Carneiro, Francisco, and Kouame, Wilfried, How much should sub-saharan African countries Adjust to Curb the Increase in public debt, World Bank Blogs, available at: https://blogs.worldbank.org/africacan/how-much-should-sub-saharan-african-countries-adjust-curb-increase-public-debt, accessed April 8, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Carrai, Maria, African sovereign Debt at a Time of pandemic; legal Justification for Suspension or cancellation, Afronomics law, available at: <https://www.afronomicslaw.org/2020/05/20/african-sovereign-debt-at-a-time-of-pandemic-legal-justifications-for-suspension-or-cancellation>, accessed April 12, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Cheryl, Payer, The Debt Trap: The IMF and Third World (Middlesex: Penguin Books Ltd, 1974).Search in Google Scholar

Crotty, James, Structural Causes of the global financial crisis: a critical Assessment of the ‘new financial architecture’, 33 Cambridge Journal of Economics, no. 4 (2009).10.1093/cje/bep023Search in Google Scholar

Dare, Sunday, “A continent in crisis, Africa and Globalization,” Dollars, and Sense Magazine, July/August, 2001.Search in Google Scholar

Daunton, Martin, Newton, Scott, & Yueh, Linda, “The 2008 financial crisis explained,” History Extra: 2021, available at: <https://www.historyextra.com/period/modern/financial-crisis-crash-explained-facts-causes/>.Search in Google Scholar

Debt Justice, Coronavirus: Cancel the Debts of Countries in the Global South, available at: <https://debtjustice.org.uk/actions/stop-coronavirus-debt-disaster>, accessed April 11, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Dzawu, Moses, War in Ukraine puts Africa at Risk of stagflation, debt distress, Bloomberg, available at: <www.bloomberg.com>.Search in Google Scholar

Elam, Daniel, Postcolonial theory, available at: <https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/ViewContributor/document/obo-9780190221911/obo-9780190221911-0069.xml?id=con9129>, accessed March 31, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Eskridge, WilliamJr., Les Jeux Sont Faits: structural Origins of the international debt Problem, 25 Virginia Journal of International Law, no. 2 (1985).Search in Google Scholar

Eslava, Luis & Pahuja, Sundhya, Beyond the (post) colonial: TWAIL and the Everyday Life of international law, 45 Law and Politics in Africa, Asia and Latin America, no. 2 (2012).10.5771/0506-7286-2012-2-195Search in Google Scholar

ESRC, Human rights Organisations in Africa Deppen Calls for debt Cancellation and restructuring, available at: <https://www.escr-net.org/news/2022/human-rights-organizations-africa-deepen-calls-debt-cancellation-and-restructuring>, accessed April 10, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

European Commission, Next Steps for a Sustainable Future: European Action for Sustainability, COM (2016), 739.Search in Google Scholar

European Commission, The new European Consensus on development – ‘Our World, Our Dignity, Our Future’, available at: <https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/ca80bb57-6778-11e7-b2f2-01aa75ed71a1/language-en/format-PDF>, accessed October 11, 2020.Search in Google Scholar

Ferry, Marin, The Carrot and Stick Approach to Debt relief: over coming moral Hazards, 28 Journal of African Economies, no. 3 (2019).10.1093/jae/ejy023Search in Google Scholar

Frank, Gunder (1971) Crisis in The Third World (London: Heinemann, 1971).Search in Google Scholar

Gauri, Varun, and Gloppen, Siri, Human Rights Based Approaches to Development Concepts, Evidence, and Policy, The World Bank Development Research Group, Research Working Paper (2012).10.1596/1813-9450-5938Search in Google Scholar

Ghosh, Atish and A. Postelnyak, Ann, Growing Together the IMF and African low-income countries (2021), available at: <https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/fandd/issues/2021/12/Africa-Low-Income-Countries>, accessed March 29, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Grigorian, David, Restructuring Domestic Sovereign Debt: An Analytic Illustration, IMF Working Paper (International Monetary Funds: 2023).10.5089/9798400232541.001Search in Google Scholar

Group of Twenty, Coordination between the international monetary Fund and multilateral development Banks on policy-based lending: Update on the Implementation of the G20 principles, available at: <https://www.imf.org/external/np/g20/pdf/2018/082918.pdf>, accessed April 11, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Haidar, J. Sovereign Credit Risk in the euro-Zone, 13(1) World Economics.Search in Google Scholar

Hammar, Amanda, Displacement Economics in Africa Paradoxes of Crisis, and Creativity (New York: Zed Books Ltd, 2014).10.5040/9781350219717.ch-001Search in Google Scholar

Harcourt, Sarah and Robertson, Fiona, African debt, available at: <https://data.one.org/topics/african-debt/>, accessed March 22, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Harris, Elliott, and Lane, Chris, Debt as an Obstacle to the sustainable development goals, available at: <https://www.un.org/pt/desa/debt-obstacle-sustainable-development-goals>, accessed April 4, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Holsti, Kalevi, International Politics: A Framework for Analysis (New Jersey: Princeton International Inc, 1995).Search in Google Scholar

Howse, Robert, The Concept of Odious Debt in Public International Law, United Nations Conference in Trade and Development, no. 185 (2007).Search in Google Scholar

Ikejiaku, Brian, Africa debt Crisis and the IMF with a Case of Nigeria: towards theoretical explanations, 1 Journal of Politics and Law, no. 44 (2008).10.5539/jpl.v1n4p2Search in Google Scholar

Ikejiaku, Brian, International Law is Western made global law: the Perception of third world category, 6 African Journal of Legal Studies, no. 3 (2014).10.1163/17087384-12342022Search in Google Scholar

Ikejiaku, Brian, Liberal economic Internationalism and developing Countries of the Global South: Critique from international law & international relations contexts, 4 Asian-African Journal of International Law no. 1 (2015).Search in Google Scholar

Ikejiaku, Brian, Migration, poverty, the Role of state (international) Law and Development in the Industrialised Countries of Europe, 14 Law & Development Review, no. 2 (2021).10.1515/ldr-2021-0045Search in Google Scholar

ILC, ‘force majeur’ and ‘fortuitous event’ as Circumstances Precluding Wrongfulness: Survey of State Practice International Judicial Decision and Doctrine – State Responsibility, II Yearbook of the International Law Commission, no. 1 (1978).Search in Google Scholar

IMF, Regional Economic Outlook – Sub-Saharan Africa (Washington: 2009).Search in Google Scholar

IMF & World Bank, 100 Percent Debt Cancellation? A Response from the IMF and the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, available at: https://www.imf.org/external/np/exr/ib/2001/071001.htm, April 3, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Lau, Kwan, Novation and advance consent, 81 The Cambridge Law Journal, no. 3 (2022).10.1017/S0008197322000472Search in Google Scholar

Lusigi, Angela, “Africa and the Russia-Ukraine Conflict: Seizing the Opportunity in the crisis,” Africa Renewal Magazine, June 30, 2022.Search in Google Scholar

Madhumita, Paul, Almost 60% of Africa’s low-Income Countries in debt distress, UNCTAD (2022), available at: <https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/africa/almost-60-of-africa-s-low-income-countries-in-debt-distress-unctad-85374>, accessed March 24, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Mahmood, Poonja, Termination of Treaties Owing to Fundamental Change of Circumstances, Clausula Rebus Sic Stantibus (Prague: Charles University, 1982).Search in Google Scholar

Mallard, Gregoire, We owe You Nothing: Decolonisation and sovereign debt Obligations an international public law, In Pierre Penet and Juan Zendejas (eds.), Sovereign Debt Diplomacies: Rethinking Sovereign Debt from Colonial Empires to Hegemony, Oxford Academic (2021).10.1093/oso/9780198866350.003.0009Search in Google Scholar

Martell, Luke, The Sociology of Globalisation, 2nd ed. (UK: Cambridge Publishing, 2017).Search in Google Scholar

Mclnerney-Lankford, Siobhan, Human Rights and development: a Comment on Challenges and Opportunities from a legal perspective, 1 Journal of Human Rights Practice, no. 1 (2009).10.1093/jhuman/hun005Search in Google Scholar

Mhianga, David and Ndhiovu, Emmanuel, The Implications of the Russia-Ukraine War on sustainable development Goals in Africa, SSRN Electronic Journal (2022).10.2139/ssrn.4226510Search in Google Scholar

Mihalyi, David and Trebesh, Christoph, Who Lends to Africa and How? Introducing the Africa Debt Database, KIEL Working Paper (2022), IFW KIEL Institute for the World Economy.Search in Google Scholar

Moran, Norman, The Federal Reserve and the Decision to Let Lehman Brothers fail, 4 Berkeley Undergraduate Journal, no. 1 (2008).Search in Google Scholar

Muyebe, Alex, Colonialism and debt, how Debts used to Exploit and control: debt justice, avaliable at: <https://debtjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Colonialism-and-Debt-briefing.pdf>, accessed March 30, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Nair, Sheila, Introducing Postcolonialism in international relations theory, In Stephen Mcglinchey, Rosie Walters, and Christian C. Scheinpflug (eds.), International Relations Theory (E-International Relations Publishing, 2022).Search in Google Scholar

Ndulu, Benno & O’Connel, Stephen, Africa’s development debts, 30 Journal of African Economies, no. 1 (2021).10.1093/jae/ejab021Search in Google Scholar

Ndung’u, Njuguna, Shimeles, Abebe and Manda, Damiano, Growing with Debt in African Economies through improved governance: Options, Challenges and Pitfalls, 30 Journal of African Economies, no. 1 (2021).10.1093/jae/ejab019Search in Google Scholar

Offiong, Daniel, Imperialism and Dependency, Obstacles to African Development (Enugu, Nigeria: Fourth Dimension Pub, 1989).Search in Google Scholar

Okafor, Collins, Neo-Democracy and Poverty Management in Africa (Awka, Nigeria: Mercury Bright Press, 2004).Search in Google Scholar

Onimode, Bode, eds. The IMF, the World Bank and the African Debt, The Economic Impact (London: Zed Books Publication Ltd, 1981).Search in Google Scholar

Oxfam, Half a billion People could Be Pushed into Poverty by Covid-19, available at: https://www.oxfamamerica.org/press/half-billion-people-could-be-pushed-poverty-covid-19/, accessed April 12, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Raga, Sherillyn, Economic Vulnerabilities to the Coronavirus: top Countries at risk, available at: <https://odi.org/en/insights/economic-vulnerabilities-to-the-coronavirus-top-countries-at-risk/#:∼:text=A%20new%20ODI%20paper%20examines,Viet%20Nam%2C%20and%20the%20Philippines>, accessed April 10, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Rao, Sujata, and Strohecker, Karin, A Decade after debt forgiveness, Africa still Hooked on Dollars, Reuters, available at: <https://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-bonds-local-analysis-idUKKCN18F0I9>, April 3, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Ravinder, Rea, and Msoni, Malindi, Global financial Crises and its Impact on the South African economy: a further Update, 5 Journal of Economies, no. 1 (2014).10.1080/09765239.2014.11884980Search in Google Scholar

W. Rodney, How Europe Underdeveloped Africa (London: Bogle L’Ouverture pub, 1972).Search in Google Scholar

Sachs, Jeffrey, The End of Poverty: How we can make it happen in our life (Penguin: 2005).Search in Google Scholar

Sacko, Josefa and Mayaki, Ibrahim, How the Russia-Ukraine Conflict Impacts Africa Renewal.Search in Google Scholar

Sandbrook, Richard, The Politics of Basic Needs (London: Heinemann, 1982).Search in Google Scholar

Schneider, Lea, The international court (ICC) – a postcolonial Tool for Western States to control Africa? (2020) 1 Journal of International Criminal Law, no. 1 (2020).Search in Google Scholar

Sen, Amartya, Development as Freedom (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999).Search in Google Scholar

Simon, Wilson, Centre-periphery Relationship in the Understanding of Development of internal colonies, 2 International Journal of Economic Development Research & Investment, no. 1 (2011).Search in Google Scholar

The Human Rights-Based Approach, UNFPA, available at: <https://www.unfpa.org/human-rights-based-approach>, October 18, 2020.Search in Google Scholar

UNDP, Covid-19 and external Debt in Africa, available at: <https://www.undp.org/africa/publications/covid-19-and-external-debt-africa>, accessed April 8, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

UNDP, The Impact of the War in Ukraine on sustainable Development in Africa, available at: <htttps://www.undp.org/Africa/publications/impact-war-ukraine-sustainable-development-africa>.Search in Google Scholar

UNGA, Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2015) A/RES/70/1.Search in Google Scholar

United Nations, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa Macroeconomic policies to promote economic recovery in Africa (2020).Search in Google Scholar

Wanyande, Peter, State Driven Conflict in the Greater Horn of Africa (USAID, 1997).Search in Google Scholar

Wearden, Graeme, ‘EU debt crisis: Italy hit with rating downgrade’, The Guardian, September 2, 2011.Search in Google Scholar

Yaounde, CEMAC: Ministry of Finance and economy suggest Cancellation of external Debts to ‘Deal with Covid-19’ and ‘Relaunch’ post pandemic economies, available at: <https://www.businessincameroon.com/economy/3003-10143-cemac-ministries-of-finance-and-economy-suggest-cancellation-of-external-debts-to-deal-with-covid-19-and-relaunch-post-pandemic-economies>, accessed April 11, 2023.Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2023-05-31
Accepted: 2023-06-08
Published Online: 2023-07-18
Published in Print: 2023-06-27

© 2023 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Downloaded on 19.12.2025 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/ldr-2023-0052/html?srsltid=AfmBOool8swH9n3Gw3haW51j-ryzJjpSuldfi5KodjFVyN9M2h9-3Ekz
Scroll to top button