A series of devastating debt crises are undermining hard-won development progress across sub-Saharan Africa and driving increases in poverty and inequality. Hit by tax dodging, irresponsible lending, corruption and the commodity price crash, countries like Ghana, Mozambique, Zambia and Malawi are facing dramatic increases in public debt levels. Africa’s new debt trap poses a huge threat to the continent’s poorest people, and urgent national and international action is needed to address it.

We will utilise our extensive expertise in international debt issues, campaigning and advocacy to support campaigners in affected countries to secure urgent debt relief and lasting solutions to their countries’ debt problems. We will also work to expose and tackle the role of UK policies and financial institutions in creating Africa’s latest debt crisis, and advocate for policy change here in the UK to rein in the power of the banks and help tackle the global problem of runaway debts.