Labour would do well to remember its manifesto promise to revive Britain’s global leadership on development
With borrowing costs rising and western governments including the UK cutting their aid budgets, unsustainable debts are driving a development crisis across the global south.
In the latest evidence, Ethiopia last week faced the threat of being sued by its creditors in the English courts, after long-running negotiations about restructuring $1bn (£740m) of its debt collapsed.
In a number of other countries, including Zambia, Chad and South Sudan, private-sector lenders have strung out or disrupted efforts to restructure loans, with the process often taking years.
New analysis published as the International Monetary Fund and World Bank met in Washington last week, by the advocacy group Development Finance International (DFI), shows the scale of the burden.
