President John Mahama has joined his fellow African Heads of State in calling for a common African position ahead of the 2025 G20 Summit to demand timely, fair, and transparent debt restructuring frameworks.

The Group of Twenty (G20) is a Forum of 19 major world economies and the European Union, established to address global economic and financial issues.

This year’s G20 Summit is slated from 22 to 23 November in Johannesburg, South Africa.

President Mahama also advocated a standardized debt transparency benchmarks across the African Union and integration of climate adaptation and sustainable development goals into their national debt strategies.

President Mahama made the call in his address at the opening of the African Union Conference on Debt in Lomé, Togo.

The three-day meeting, which is being convened by the African Union Commission’s Department for Economic Development, Tourism, Trade, Industry, and Minerals (ETTIM) is the theme: “Africa’s Public Debt Management Agenda: Restoring and Safeguarding Debt Sustainability.”

The conference will convene AU Member States, policymakers, financial experts, and key stakeholders, including representatives from Ministries of Finance, African Central Banks, Regional Economic Communities, African Multilateral Financial Institutions, and Civil Society Organizations.

President Mahama reiterated the need for the full operationalisation of the African Monetary Institute and the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPS) to reduce forex demands and beddings in our regional trade.

On how they could redefine Africa’s debt narrative?, President Mahama said: “Let us leave here with a renewed vision, a vision where debt is no longer synonymous with crisis but with capacity, where our economies are built not on extraction and aid but on innovation, value addition, and equity, and where we act not as debtors pleading for relief but as partners demanding reform.”

He advocated a redefinition of the African debt narrative.

“Ghana stands ready shoulder to shoulder with our fellow African nations to champion this agenda,” President Mahama said.

“Let us walk this road together with courage, clarity, and commitment.

Africa, united in vision and action, can overcome its debt challenges and deliver prosperity for generations of Africans yet to come.”