Finance minister Enoch Godongwana has appointed 23 members of the Africa Expert Panel to advise on African policy challenges for the Group of 20 (G20), particularly its onerous debt burden.
Chaired by former finance minister and Old Mutual chair Trevor Manuel, the panel includes some of the world’s leading economists such as Nobel prize winner Esther Duflo, professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Also on the panel is Ngaire Woods, dean of the Blavatnik School at Oxford University, and SouthBridge chair and managing partner Donald Kaberuka, as well as representatives of the African Development Bank, the UN Economic Commission for Africa and SA economists.
The panel will produce a high-level report with its key recommendations for the relevant finance track of the G20 to consider. The overall objective of the panel is to offer strategic advice on how to advance Africa’s collective developmental interests.
In a media statement announcing the names of the panel, the Treasury said, “Africa is grappling with an unprecedented debt crisis. This year African countries will pay close to $89bn in external debt service costs alone with 20 low-income countries at risk of debt distress.
“More than half of Africa’s 1.3-billion people live in countries that spend more on interest payments than on social issues such as health, education and infrastructure,” the Treasury said in the statement.
“The high level of debt is unsustainable and undermines efforts towards sustainable development and poverty alleviation. There is a need for bold and urgent action on a comprehensive plan to deal with high levels of debt of Africa and other developing countries.”
The statement said SA’s presidency of the G20 presented an opportunity for African countries to advance issues affecting the continent through dialogue and collaboration among African member states’ public sector, think-tanks and organised businesses.
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