Experts have called for urgent concessionary financing to help Africa with financial, health and climate shocks threatening to reverse two decades of development progress, build resilience and boost economic growth.

A mix of shocks including food and fuel impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, climate change impacts, conflict, and tighter global financial conditions have increased Africa’s development financing gap and debt vulnerability, experts concurred during a one-day virtual workshop on Catalysing Access to the IMF Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), organized by AfriCatalyst and the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Adam Elhiraika , ECA Director, Macroeconomics and Governance Division, said that in the past six decades, every global recession has led to a rise in global government debt and that many African countries had increased their public debt. A bulk of the public debt was incurred between 2020 and 2021 when countries sought to combat the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.

As a result, many countries were struggling with high debt and in servicing it which was impeding poverty reduction and hindering their recovery from shocks.

“Despite national and international efforts, an increasing number of countries on the continent continue to struggle with substantial debt burdens and servicing their debt, with some already in debt distress or at high risk of debt distress,” Mr. Elhiraika said, emphasising that this was impeding resilience-building to future shocks, which is key for sustainable development.

In a bid to help developing and lower middle-income countries build resilience to external shocks and achieve sustainable growth, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) established the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST). Under the RST, is the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF), an innovative financing instrument to help countries address long-term structural challenges, including climate change adaptation and mitigation and pandemics.