The Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments is pressing for comprehensive debt elimination by creditor-nations, not debt relief or review, according to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila.
There is a significant distinction between the three phrases, according to Gbajabiamila.
On Day 2 of the ongoing 1st CoSAP summit in Abuja on Tuesday, the Speaker stated that the body would like all debts due by African countries to be forgiven.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Lanre Lasisi, titled ‘CoSAP seeking debt cancellation, not relief, review – Gbajabiamila…Calls for African Centre on Vaccine Research,’ Gbajabiamila noted that this would help the countries “reset the button to zero,” meaning they have no debts outstanding against them.
The Speaker explained the variations in the words, saying that in the case of relief or review, the debts would still be owed, but the repayment schedules would be altered, adjusted, or even postponed.
We wish to reset all of our buttons to zero. That is the position, and I ask that we all rally behind this effort,” he said.
Meanwhile, as part of his recommendations for preparing for and combating pandemics, the Speaker advised allocating a portion of the health budget to African countries for vaccine development and manufacturing.
This, according to Gbajabiamila, may be legislated to make compliance mandatory.
