As the dust settles on the G20 summit in Johannesburg, a palpable sense of missed opportunity lingers across the Global South. Leaders from the world’s major economies gathered over the weekend promising bold action on the debt crisis strangling developing nations, yet walked away with little more than recycled pledges.
Summit ends in disappointment
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa had billed the gathering as the first G20 summit on African soil and placed debt relief at the heart of his presidency. In his closing speech he called for greater support to low- and middle-income countries facing debt vulnerabilities, warning that without decisive steps these nations would remain unable to invest in their people. The two-day meeting on 22-23 November, however, produced no new mechanisms and no fresh funding.
“We came with high hopes but we’re leaving with the same old problems,” a West African delegate told journalists on condition of anonymity.
Empty chairs and fading momentum
The absence of several heavyweight leaders deepened the disappointment. United States President Donald Trump boycotted the summit, slamming South Africa’s domestic policies and calling the hosting a “total disgrace”. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping also stayed away, sending junior representatives instead.
With the United States set to assume the G20 presidency on 1 December, many fear the rare streak of Global South leadership – Indonesia in 2022, India in 2023, Brazil in 2024 and now South Africa – is coming to an abrupt end.
“The empty chairs spoke volumes,” one European diplomat remarked. “Without the biggest creditors fully engaged, real progress was never likely.”
Common Framework falls short
The final declaration endorsed an October statement from G20 finance ministers in Washington that recognised high debt as a major obstacle to growth in developing economies. It repeated commitments to improve the G20 Common Framework launched in 2020 to coordinate creditors including the Paris Club, China and private lenders.
Critics, however, brand the framework a failure. Only four countries – Chad, Ethiopia, Ghana and Zambia – have applied for relief, and none have completed restructuring. The ONE Campaign calculates the initiative has reduced debt burdens by just 7%, equivalent to $13.6 billion in high-risk cases.
“It is inadequate and painfully slow,” a Debt Justice spokesperson said.
Crushing numbers behind the crisis
Global debt topped $324 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, according to the Institute of International Finance, with emerging markets carrying a heavy share. Public debt in developing countries stood at $31 trillion in 2024, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development reports.
In Africa more than 20 countries are either in debt distress or at high risk, with many governments spending more on interest payments than on health or education combined.
Africa needs $143 billion annually to meet Paris Agreement climate goals but received only $44 billion in 2022. In 2024 the continent paid nearly $90 billion servicing external debt.
“It’s a double whammy,” said Iolanda Fresnillo, policy manager at Eurodad. “Debt is costlier and harder to resolve because there are now far more lenders involved.”
African bond yields averaged 9.8% in 2023 against 6.8% in Latin America, while successive shocks from COVID-19, climate disasters and food-price spikes have forced governments to borrow simply to survive.
Civil society anger boils over
Hours before the communiqué was released, 165 charities published an open letter condemning the lack of progress under South Africa’s “African G20” banner. They demanded the International Monetary Fund sell part of its gold reserves to create a dedicated relief fund and backed the idea of a “borrowers’ club” to strengthen debtor nations’ negotiating power.
The letter highlighted long-standing grievances with the Paris Club, dominated by Western governments but excluding China – now the largest single creditor to the Global South with more than $472 billion lent through policy banks since 2008.
Expert panel ignored
In March South Africa appointed a high-level panel chaired by former finance minister Trevor Manuel that echoed many of the charities’ proposals. Its report, released this month, was not even mentioned at the leaders’ summit.
“These ideas weren’t even acknowledged,” said Kevin Gallagher, director of Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center. “South Africa was outmanoeuvred by bigger G20 members who see little benefit in reforming the debt architecture.”
A familiar pattern
The early 2000s Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative cancelled more than $75 billion in debt. Yet after the 2008 financial crisis private creditors flooded low-income markets with expensive loans, replacing cheaper World Bank financing. Between 2020 and 2025 almost 40% of external public debt repayments from poorer countries went to commercial lenders.
UNCTAD Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan has repeatedly called for a permanent international debt-restructuring body similar to a bankruptcy court. A comparable IMF proposal in the late 1990s was blocked by major creditors, led by the United States.
Looking ahead with little hope
As the G20 presidency heads to Washington, scepticism is widespread. President Trump’s “America First” approach has already shown little enthusiasm for Global South debt or climate initiatives.
On social media users vented frustration, with posts declaring “G20 fails to deliver on sovereign debt distress” and describing the declaration as “a diplomatic victory but a weak final outcome”.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres used his summit speech to push for new instruments to lower borrowing costs and speed up support for distressed countries. Ideas such as debt-for-nature swaps that could free up $100 billion for climate adaptation were discussed but received no firm commitment.
“The need for an international solution with basic rules instead of endless ad-hoc crises is obvious,” Fresnillo concluded. “But with multilateral cooperation this weak, I wouldn’t hold my breath.”
For now the debt trap tightens further, stifling growth and squeezing public spending across the developing world. As one African finance minister put it: “We are paying the price for a system that was never designed with us in mind.”
