Former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has opened up about the toll Ghana’s debt restructuring process took on his administration, describing it as “one of the darkest and most painful episodes” of his presidency.
Addressing African and European leaders at the AU-EU High-Level Seminar in Brussels on Thursday, October 2, 2025, Akufo-Addo admitted that the G20 Common Framework deal, though necessary, left behind deep social scars.
“I witnessed the suffocating grip of debt on our economy and on our citizens. This deeply troubled me and still does,” he said.
“The most painful part was the impact on ordinary people. Pensioners, young people, and small investors saw their lives and livelihoods shattered,” he told the gathering.
He described the process as unnecessarily drawn out, eroding confidence and prolonging suffering.
The former President used Ghana’s experience to highlight Africa’s wider debt crisis, pointing out that over 30 African countries now spend more on interest repayments than on public health.
“Every dollar diverted to creditors is a dollar taken from a hospital, from a child’s vaccination, from a community’s future. This is not economics, it is inequity,” he stressed.
He called for urgent global reforms, including immediate debt service suspension, large-scale restructuring, and access to concessional financing.
Importantly, he dismissed the notion that debt relief should be treated as benevolence from the developed world.
“Debt relief for Africa is not an act of generosity. It is an act of justice,” Mr. Akufo-Addo declared.
In 2023, Ghana signed onto the framework, restructuring $13 billion worth of Eurobonds and securing commitments that brought $10.5 billion in external debt service relief through 2026.
This lowered the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio from the mid-80s to 70.5 percent, a move that reassured investors and anchored an IMF-supported programme.
However, Akufo-Addo said the success came at a heavy cost.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh
