There were many discussions on debt issues at the World Social Forum meeting in Bamako, Mali in the last few days. Eurodad Coordinator Alex Wilks spoke at two workshops; the first on Africa’s illegitimate debt and the second on the multilateral debt initiative proposed by the G8 in 2005.
Multilateral debt initiative
Many campaigners echoed comments by Eurodad and others that the debt deal reached last year is nowhere near enough. Demba Moussa Dembele of Forum des Alternatives, Senegal for example commented that the G8 initiative is currently cancelling just 15% of the debts of Sub-Saharan African countries.
Among the countries excluded from the cancellation at present is Mauritania – the sole country to be axed by the IMF in its decision last month (see: http://www.eurodad.org/articles/default.aspx?id=673). A good number of Mauritanians were present at the Social Forum to complain about this decision and demand that their country be included in the multilateral debt relief initiative. They circulated a short briefing and a statement which many Forum participants signed onto. The statement calls the IMF decision “economically unjust and politically mistimed” as after 21 years of arbitrary rule there is a new government which is making significant efforts to clean up politics.
The briefing comments that the IMF’s decision is “incomprehensible” because it punishes a country that has just got rid of an autocratic regime of 21 years’ duration. The IMF gave technical reasons of falsified data by government officials – but this is widely believed to be cover for a political judgement on the post-coup regime. The Mauritanian briefing calls the IMF decision “full of contradictions” and says that the IMF has been involved in the country for many years during the previous regime and it is ridiculous for it to say suddenly that the governments’ data is wrong.
Tracking the multilateral debt deal
Aminata Touré Barry, Chairperson of CAD Mali, said civil society groups should help determine and monitor what happens with the money that countries will not have to pay in debt service. Suggestions were made of some of the practical steps activists in the countries concerned can take to monitor what is happening with the debt deal on the ground. Among these are:
· to check whether the IMF and African Development Bank have already completed the cancellation of their parts of the debt (which supposedly took place in the first week of January);
· to check with relevant ministries how any debt service savings are reflected in their 2006 budgets;
· to advocate for specific uses for any extra money in budgets;
· to see what changes may have been made in agreements with the World Bank, IMF and African Development Bank and to advocate for transparency and due process in any renegotiations or new negotiations with these bodies.
It was also suggested, including by Solidarity Africa Network, that the cut-off date of World Bank debts eligible under the scheme be pushed back to at least the end of 2004 (in line with the IMF decision). It is illogical that the IMF and African Development Fund should have cut-off dates of end-2004 but the World Bank end-2003. Also that creditors refund multilateral debt payments made by countries between the G8 announcement and its implementation.
While almost all speakers in Bamako expressed very strong dissatisfaction with the results of campaigns on debt to date a number commented that we have scored a number of partial victories from which to build. Lidy Nacpil of Jubilee South reminded the crowd at one meeting that “there are no shortcuts – we need to build and strengthen movements.”
Many meetings in Bamako dealt with other aspects of the debt crisis, with other tactics such as debt repudiation. And many further meetings with other policy and political debates – on trade, aid, tax, immigration and many more. The first global Social Forum held in Africa was a major success, with many new contacts and ideas generated to help fuel civil society action in the coming year.
Parallel discussions are currently underway at the World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela. Eurodad will report on these over the coming week. Next year’s World Social Forum will take place in Kenya.
