In collaboration with Ghana TUC, Civil Society Organisations (AFRODAD, FEMNET, Tax Justice Network, Pan-African Lawyers Union, Trust Africa, among others), the African Regional Organisation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC-Africa), held its third continental Debt Cancellation and Trade Justice rally in Accra, Ghana, on Friday, August 29.
The rally echoed across the continent as an amplified demand for outright debt cancellation, fair treatment of African nations by the Bretton Woods Institutions, and an urgent call on African governments to embrace responsible and transparent management of borrowed funds, reports Nigerian Tribune.
While strike, protest in demand for minimum wage, payment of salary or any other related labour issues may be all you know or heard about workers’ unions, in reality, trade unions actually undertake painstaking efforts in the interest of the citizens, nationally or Continentally.
The Accra pan-African rally for debt cancellation and trade justice is one of such roles played by the union. It speaks to the fact that beyond the barricades of workplace disputes, trade unions remain one of the few institutions consistently standing at the intersection of people’s daily struggles and the wider economic chains binding the continent.
The first of its kind took place on the streets of Lusaka, the capital city of Zambia, in March 2024, then in Grand-Bassam a few kilometers away from Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, in February 2025, and now on the streets of Accra. While the Lusaka and Grand-Bassam rallies as the stepping stones of the ITUC-Africa-led continental rally, were said to be successful, that of Accra gained more momentum with the participation of more young people who were drawn by issues raised by the trade unions and CSOs.
The presence of so many young people in Accra was significant. Many of them have lived the bitter consequences of Africa’s debt trap. They know what it means for a government to spend more on servicing debt than on funding education. They have seen friends drop out of school because tuition rose beyond what their parents could afford, or because there were simply no facilities to absorb them.
For them, the rally was not about abstract economics; it was about their lived reality and their future. That was why they drummed, danced, carried placards, and sang freedom songs under the hot sun of Accra, joining workers and civil society in declaring that Africa must break free from debt bondage.
Before the day of the rally, ITUC-Africa in partnership with Ghana Trade Union Congréss and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES) organised a two-day workshop on “Debt and Trade for the Economic Emancipation of Africa,” where experts delved deep on Africa’s debt situation and it links to drop in provisions of socio-economic amenities, devaluation of currencies, high inflation, unemployment, poor healthcare facilities, non funding of education, social protection and many other things that contribute to the worsening economic hardship across Africa, and how the role of the Bretton Woods Institutions and their rating institutions, as well as the management and lack of transparency on the part of African governments exacerbate the situation.
The workshop revealed that in some African nations, debt service consumes over 50 percent of government revenues. And in the words of Ghana TUC Secretary General, Comrade Joshua Ansah: “Every dime spent on debt repayment is money denied to a mother struggling to deliver in a rural clinic without electricity.”
Following the workshop, another set of experts at the 5th African Conference on Debt and Development (AfCoDD V) held also in Accra between 27 and 28 August. It was well attended by trade unions, civil society organisations, Africans in diaspora and many Ghanaian citizens as it further dissected African countries’ debt situation. AfCoDD V further deepened the debt issues and also harped on reparative justice for the continent. The dissenting of the issues, stimulated and gingered participants for the rally.
Indeed, AfCoDD V provided the intellectual and moral ammunition for the Friday rally. It was there that participants heard how illicit financial flows of more than 90 billion dollars annually drain the continent (funds that could have built schools, hospitals, and industries).
It was there they listened to testimonies of how credit rating agencies routinely assign African countries lower ratings than their economic fundamentals deserve, making borrowing more expensive.
And it was there that the notion of debt cancellation as reparative justice, not charity, gained resonance. As ITUC-Africa General Secretary puts it: “Africa does not owe; Africa is owed.”
With the mammoth crowd in procession from Obra Spot Cycle, to major streets of Accra, down to the Black Star Square/Independent Square, the rally was a clear and loud statement that Africa trade unions under the banner of ITUC-Africa are succeeding in educating and galvanizing African people to first understand the issues, demand for fairness and debt cancellation as a form of reparative justice for so many injustices done to the continent and its people by the Global North and their Institutions, and most importantly demand accountability and transparency from African governments.
Throughout the rally, workers marched shoulder to shoulder with students, women traders, clergy, artists, and activists. At the Black Star Square, a theatre group staged a symbolic chain-breaking performance, dramatizing Africa’s freedom from debt bondage.
Delivered to Ghana Finance Minister for his country and for onward passage to all African governments through the AU, to other continent authorities like AfCFTA Headquarters, IMF and World Bank, the rally demands were made known.
Signed by the Secretary General TUC, Comrade Joshua Ansah, the demands read: “Africa is drowning in debt. More than half of African countries are already in or at high risk of debt distress.
“In many states, debt service consumes over 50 percent of government revenues, leaving governments unable to finance essential services such as health care, education, wages, and social protection.
“In Ghana, Zambia, Kenya and beyond, debt repayments have repeatedly outstripped social spending. This is not just a financial challenge; it is a human development and democratic crisis.
“The current debt system reflects deep historical and structural injustices. Africa continues to pay the price for colonial extraction, unfair trade and tax rules, and the manipulation of financial markets by creditor institutions. Illicit financial flows of over US$90 billion annually drain resources that could have built schools, hospitals, and industries.
Credit rating biases, predatory vulture funds, and austerity-driven IMF and World Bank programmes further entrench dependency. For this reason, debt cancellation must be recognised not as charity but as reparative justice, addressing centuries of exploitation and restoring Africa’s fiscal sovereignty.
“In line with the African Union Lomé Declaration on Debt and the ITUC-Africa Position Paper on Debt (August 2025), we call on Ghana to deliver this petition to all creditors.
“Our core demands are: Total and unconditional cancellation of Africa’s unsustainable external debts as an act of reparative justice. Freed resources must be channelled into jobs, wages, social protection, climate resilience, and structural transformation. A stand-alone UN Sovereign Debt Workout Framework, replacing the failed G20 Common Framework, with strict timelines, automatic standstills, binding participation of private creditors, and a neutral tribunal.
“An African Doctrine on Debt, exempting climate, resilience, and security spending from debt sustainability tests, recalibrating thresholds to reflect growth and demographics, and ensuring automatic standstills during shocks. Africa’s financial safety nets by 2027. Operationalise an African Monetary and Stability Fund, an African Financial Stability Mechanism, and an African Credit Rating Agency to counter creditor bias. Transparency and accountability. Publish every loan agreement, release quarterly debt-versus-social spending scorecards, enforce parliamentary approval and independent union and civil society and audits for all borrowing. Parliamentary oversight for all borrowing is also required.
“Curb predatory practices. Outlaw vulture funds, compel all creditors (bilateral, multilateral, private) to provide comparable treatment in restructurings. Mobilise domestic resources fairly. Broaden the tax base by taxing the high net worth individuals, cancel wasteful exemptions, curb illicit financial flows, and issue US$50 billion in climate and social bonds by 2030. One African voice in global for a. Secure permanent African representation on global financial bodies, fairer SDR allocation, and climate and labour tests in all lending.”
Earlier, ITUC-Africa General Secretary, Comrade Akhator Joel Odigie, said, “Africa’s mounting debt burden and unbalanced trade policies are stifling industries, deepening inequality, and fueling job losses across the continent.”
He further painted a stark picture of an economy where debt repayment eclipses investments in jobs, infrastructure, and social protection, leaving millions trapped in poverty.
Odigie said Africa must urgently redefine its approach to both debt and trade, stressing that neither should strip the continent of its sovereignty or economic future.
“We will not trade away our right to industrialization, and cannot achieve industrialisation one country at a time. It must be a Pan-African process built on collective effort and, importantly, on global South-led negotiation,” he argued.
Lamenting the export of raw minerals and the loss of value-added opportunities, Odigie demanded a renegotiation of existing mining licenses under the African Mining Vision. “Currently, Africa continues to export raw minerals, and with them, jobs and development opportunities. This must change,” he said, adding that trade unions and non-state actors have a critical role in reshaping these dynamics.
The ITUC-Africa General Secretary further criticised the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for omitting labour protections, calling it a “glaring omission” that threatens to make the agreement a jobless growth project.
“We have developed a zero draft of what a labor protocol should look like, and by the first quarter of next year, we aim to finalize it and engage with the African Union,” Odigie revealed.
For Odigie, debt cancellation is not a plea for charity but a demand for justice: “Let us be clear—debt cancellation is not charity; it is reparation. Africa is not a debtor continent; Africa is a creditor continent. We are owed, not the other way around, when you account for slavery, colonial exploitation, and the ongoing bleeding of our resources through illicit financial flows and unfair economic systems.
“Debt is not inherently bad; it is a function of loans that, if well-managed, can drive development. The problem is when debt becomes a burden, when it hangs on our necks like a noose, creating a crisis instead of opportunity,” he added.
He warned that current trade patterns were also failing the continent: “Trade should drive growth and prosperity, but the reality that trades we see on our continent do not provide jobs. It does not prioritize decent work or improve workers’ welfare, and that is a serious concern for us.”
The Accra rally therefore stood as both a cry of pain and a declaration of hope. Pain, because Africans know too well how debt and unfair trade have stifled dreams, killed industries, and impoverished millions. Hope, because the people that rise to demand justice are already halfway to winning it.
And from Lusaka to Grand-Bassam to Accra, the chain of rallies has become a chain-breaking movement, one that may yet shift the balance of Africa’s engagement with the world. And as the flames of Accra rally wane, expectations are on the time and place of the next rally.
