UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he wants to “launch a new drive on debt” for “the poorest and most vulnerable countries”. He made the comments ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting taking place in Antigua & Barbuda from 1-4 November.
Responding to the comments, Heidi Chow, Executive Director of Debt Justice, said:
“We welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment to reducing the huge debt payments that are preventing lower-income countries from meeting basic needs and taking climate action. The largest slice of these payments are to private lenders, who charge the highest interest rates, extracting massive profits. The UK can make legal changes to ensure private lenders take part in debt relief, which is essential to creating a fair, fast and sufficient debt relief scheme.”
Of external debt payments by low- and lower-middle income countries:[1]
- 39% are to private lenders (not including Chinese private lenders)
- 35% are to multilateral institutions such as the IMF and World Bank
- 13% are to Chinese public and private lenders
- 13% are to other governments
90% of debt owed to private creditors by countries eligible for the G20’s debt relief scheme is governed by English law.[2]
African governments have said the G20 debt relief initiative “has not provided a pathway towards the quick restoration of debt sustainability, creating some considerable scepticism as to its potential to deliver effectively for highly indebted countries, particularly in Africa”.[3]
Ethiopia’s bondholders began the process of suing the East African country in the High Court in London in order to get a better deal than government creditors. Chad’s main private creditor, Glencore, refused to negotiate debt relief. Chad could not default because if it had, Glencore could have used the English courts to seize Chad’s oil, as has happened to South Sudan.[4]
Debt Justice is part of a coalition of organisations calling for major changes to the G20 debt relief process, including: [5]
1) Deeper debt relief
2) A suspension of payments during negotiations
3) Legal changes to ensure creditors participate
4) A clear definition of equal treatment between creditors
5) A faster process
6) Transparency of new loans
Notes
Debt Justice (formerly Jubilee Debt Campaign) is a UK charity working to end poverty caused by unjust debt through education, research and campaigning: https://debtjustice.org.uk/
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[1] Calculated by Debt Justice from World Bank International Debt Statistics database. Figures are for 2020-2025.
[3] The Common African Position on Debt was agreed by the African Union in February 2026 https://au.int/sites/default/files/decisions/46189-EX_CL_Decisions_E.pdf
It is available at: https://afrodad.org/afcodd6/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Common-African-Position-CAP-On-Debt.pdf
[4] For the full detail of these cases see: https://debtjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Legislation-FAQs_08.26.pdf
[5] See ‘The 2027 UK G20 Presidency: A Historic Opportunity for Action on debt’ available at https://debtjustice.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/UK-G20-Presidency-briefing_09.26.pdf
And
Save the Children and Debt Justice’s report ‘Now is The Time to Act: Six Reforms for the G20 Common Framework for Debt Treatments’ available at https://resourcecentre.savethechildren.net/document/now-is-the-time-to-act-six-reforms-for-the-g20-common-framework-for-debt-treatments