Former President Nana Akufo-Addo has described Ghana’s debt restructuring under the G20 Common Framework as “one of the darkest and most painful episodes” of his presidency.

Speaking at the AU-EU High-Level Seminar in Brussels on Thursday, October 2, 2025, on the eve of the AU-EU Summit, the former President admitted that while the process offered temporary economic relief, it came at a devastating human and social cost.

“I witnessed the suffocating grip of debt on our economy and on our citizens. This deeply troubled me and still does,” he told African and European leaders.

Ghana adopted the Common Framework in 2023, restructuring $13 billion in Eurobonds and securing commitments that delivered $10.5 billion in external debt service relief through 2026.

The country’s debt-to-GDP ratio fell from the mid-80s to 70.5 per cent, restoring investor confidence and anchoring an IMF-supported programme.

But behind the macroeconomic gains lay immense pain. The former President said the drawn-out, sequential process prolonged uncertainty, eroded trust, and left scars on citizens.

“The most painful part was the impact on ordinary people. Pensioners, young people, and small investors saw their lives and livelihoods shattered,” he said.

Turning to Africa’s broader debt crisis, he insisted that the continent’s $1 trillion debt burden reflects a global financial system “not built to free us, but to bind us.”

More than 30 African countries, he noted, now spend more on interest payments 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.”

Akufo-Addo renewed his call for bold reforms, urging immediate debt service suspension, comprehensive restructuring, and new concessional financing.

He stressed that debt relief should not be mistaken for charity. “Debt relief for Africa is not an act of generosity. It is an act of justice,” he declared.

He also proposed linking debt cancellation to climate resilience through a “Debt Relief for Green Investment and Resilience” framework.

Citing Africa’s vulnerability to climate shocks despite contributing less than 4% of global emissions, he reminded world leaders that reparations for climate damages run into the trillions.

“To our European partners, I say this: hear the voice of your neighbouring continent. Stand with the AU and South Africa’s G20 Presidency to advance ambitious reform of the Common Framework,” he pleaded.

While acknowledging Africa’s duty to strengthen institutions, diversify economies, and leverage the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Akufo-Addo warned that without global reforms, even the most courageous local changes would be undermined by “predatory lending and punitive trade terms.”

“The sacrifices we make today, the compromises, the collaborations we engage in today can only inure to the benefit of our world. When Africa rises free from the weight of debt, the whole world rises with it,” he concluded.