Chakwera amplifiesdebt cancellation call

 President Lazarus Chakwera has reiterated his call for debt cancellation for vulnerable countries like Malawi to address economic imbalances between rich and poor countries.

He said this when he addressed the second Voice of the Global South Summit hosted virtually by the India Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.

The Global South consists of nations with low levels of economic and industrial activities and is located south of industrialised countries.

Said the President: “The second thing the world needs to cure the South-North Economic disparities is for the debts of the most vulnerable nations to be cancelled.

“The impacts of Covid-19, climate disasters and global conflicts require resources that are currently being drained by debt service payment obligations that are shrinking the fiscal space, derailing development plans.”

He further said the debts are postponing the achievement of the 2030 United Nations championed Sustainable Developed Goals (SDGs) and the 2031 Doha Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries (DPALDC).

SGDs are a universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure that by 2030 all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

On the other hand, the DPALDC advocates for investing in people in least developed countries, eradicating poverty and building capacity so that none is left behind.

Chakwera said the resources the countries would save by cancelling the debts help to build the capacity of countries in the Global South in the areas of health, education, digitisation, energy, trade, industry and Infrastructure.

“These are all enablers of economic growth. In this respect, initiatives like the India-Africa Growth Partnership of 2005, which has facilitated an increase in development, trade and investment cooperation between Africa and India, should be fully supported,” he said.

The Malawi leader further said the other way to correct the imbalance is for the Global South to be “fully and permanently incorporated in the multilateral institutions and fora of global governance at decision-making levels”.

Opening the summit, Modi called for countries from the Global South to unite and speak in one voice for the greater global good in the face of new challenges emerging from the Israel-Hamas conflict.