United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Saturday that African countries are being denied needed debt relief, noting that because of a lack of financial support, the African continent is facing a very difficult situation. “A dysfunctional and unfair global financial system that denies many African countries the debt relief and concessional financing they need," he said. He emphasized that developing African countries are often left out when global investment lenders create their financial plans. “We need a new debt architecture that provides debt relief and re-structuring to vulnerable countries, including middle-income countries, while providing immediate debt suspension and write-downs to countries in need,” he said. AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat made opening remarks to kick off the AU Summit and was followed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Source: Ethiopian News February 19, 2023 02:48 UTC