Uhuru urges EU to cancel debt owed by Africa due to COVID-19

– President Uhuru supported the creation of the proposed establishment of the Africa-Mediterranean-Europe (AME) Foundation

– Uhuru said the foundation would go a long way into injecting new ideas needed to scale up collaboration

– The president also called for debt relief for African nations due to COVID-19 pandemic

– This came a week after China turned down Kenya’s request to secure a debt relief to fight COVID-19

President Uhuru Kenyatta has called for debt relief on behalf of African countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Uhuru said this while calling for the crafting of a joint European Union and Africa COVID-19 response strategy.

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Uhuru supported the creation of the Africa-Mediterranean-Europe (AME) Foundation. Photo: State House.
Source: Twitter

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Speaking earlier today, Thursday, July 16, in a virtual meeting with European and African leaders on the proposed establishment of the Africa-Mediterranean-Europe (AME) Foundation, Uhuru said the strategy should pursue the cancellation of debts in African countries.

Uhuru also supported the proposal to establish the foundation saying the initiative would help inject new ideas needed to scale up collaboration between the three regions.

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In May 2020, The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a loan worth KSh 78. 3 billion to help the Kenyan government fill in the gaps in the national budget as it fights the pandemic.

The multilateral lender noted the impact of COVID-19 on Kenyan economy would be severe and urged the government to loosen its fiscal consolidation stance to allow space for coronavirus–related interventions on a temporary and targeted manner.

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A week ago, China declined to grant Kenya debt relief. Photo: State House.
Source: UGC

However, a week ago, China turned down Kenya’s request to secure a debt relief to fight COVID-19 citing Group of 20 Nations (G20) tough conditionality for loan repayment.

Nairobi had reached out to Beijing hoping to individually and bilaterally strike a deal without involving the G20 members once the debt relief lapses.

Kenya owes Beijing KSh 725 billion in bilateral debt as at end of 2019 but the Asian nation declined to participate in a similar G20-led debt relief initiative.

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