Africa is stuck in a debt trap, as it keeps feeding with new loans

How does a continent finance its development without turning to the very borrowing that is choking it? It is the question African governments have dodged for decades.

Dumelang Saleshando Leader of Opposition, Maun North Member of Parliament and chairperson of the SADC Parliamentary Forum Standing Committee on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment was in Kenya as a panelist at the 6th African Conference on Debt and Development, organised by the African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (Afrodad).

Saleshando’s core warning was blunt, that the African growth has been dampened by unsustainable debt. But his prescription went far beyond the usual calls for debt relief.

Saleshando, who is also the President of the Botswana Congress Party, said African countries are wrestling with rising debt, pressure on public finances and growing demands from citizens for greater accountability.

Governments must make every shilling of tax visibly work for citizens, he argued, until the people no longer have to ask where their money went.

Technology is the missing lever

“One of the things we need to do as African countries is tech advancements. Most African countries have not gone aggressive on the use of technology to modernize their systems. Many revenue and tax collection agencies tend to be inefficient because they haven’t adopted tech,” he said.

Debt is about to become a political issue

With Kenya heading toward the 2027 elections and other African countries navigating their own political transitions, taxation, debt and public spending are set to become bigger issues in political debates, he said.

Saleshando urged African and Kenyan leaders to strengthen domestic resource mobilisation in order to reduce reliance on borrowing to finance development.
“Botswana hasn’t had a serious debt problem because Botswana has continuous revenue flow from diamonds,” he said, noting that debt constraints can hinder governments from building fair, transparent and trusted tax systems.

Plug the leaks, fix the reforms

“I think African leaders also need to address the issue of illicit funds. We need to stop this leak about illicit transfer of funds to foreign countries,” he said.

To escape the vicious circle of debt, he said African countries must restructure and review economic reforms. Debt write-offs, long touted as a solution alone does not address the core problem.

Citizens as watchdogs

His final appeal was to African stakeholders to address the role of citizens, particularly young people and civil society, in monitoring how public revenue is collected, allocated and spent.

From where he sits as a politician, the growth of African countries will take shape the day the ruling class begins assessing the leadership required to drive difficult reforms in taxation, public spending and debt management.