President William Ruto Calls For Reforms To Reduce Africa’s High Cost Of Debts

President William Ruto has called for comprehensive international financial reforms to lower Africa’s cost of capital, warning that high debt servicing costs are severely constraining national budgets and choking investment in critical public sectors.

Addressing world leaders in New York on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, during a High-Level Reflection on the Pact for the Future—convened by Namibia, Zambia, the African Union, and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa—President Ruto stated that affordable development financing is essential for unlocking economic opportunities for the continent’s growing youth population.

“High debt costs are squeezing national budgets and limiting investment in jobs, education, health and infrastructure,” President Ruto asserted. “For Africa, the test is clear: opportunities for our young people and a fairer system for financing our development.”

The Head of State noted that while African nations actively shaped the Pact for the Future adopted by world leaders in 2024, multilateral institutions must now accelerate the translation of those commitments into concrete financial outcomes. To bridge the continent’s development financing gap, he advocated for expanded credit guarantees, enhanced risk-sharing mechanisms, and structural adjustments to mitigate perceived sovereign risk premiums that artificially inflate borrowing rates for African nations.

Simultaneously, President Ruto urged African governments to optimize internal tax administration and widen domestic resource mobilization to curb reliance on external commercial debt.

“We need reforms that lower Africa’s cost of capital, expand guarantees and risk-sharing instruments to unlock investment, and enable countries to mobilise more of their own resources,” he noted, adding that “money Africa can rightfully tax is money Africa need not borrow.”