Borrowers' Platform Governing Council meets in Bangkok - Updates and what next?
The Borrowers’ Platform gives developing countries a dedicated space to share knowledge, learn from one another and speak collectively with authority about borrowers’ debt challenges. Unlike creditors, borrowers lack a formal, institutionalised platform of their own; hence the borrowers’ platform. More than 30 developing countries met in Bangkok (12th October 2026) for the platform’s first Governing Council meeting, held alongside the 2026 IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings. They set out an agenda to develop the platform as a space for advocacy and peer learning. Civil society organisations were able to participate in the open session. The platform is now in place, and we will continue to follow how effectively it carries out its work.
At this meeting, AFRODAD made a statement on behalf of Global South networks, we made recommendations on peer learning, including sharing experience in loan negotiations and aligning domestic laws and policies to improve debt transparency. These recommendations give us a basis for continued engagement with the platform. The Borrowers’ Platform has already established its rules, structures and priorities. Following the open plenary on the Borrower’s Platform, there were quite a number of questions in terms of its effectiveness, its efficacy, and whether it's going to survive the pushback, particularly as it positions itself as a technical group.
The next step is to help it develop into an institution capable of advocacy and influencing the rules of the global financial architecture. Its impact will depend in part on how we engage with it. We should work to grow African membership in the platform and use peer learning to strengthen countries’ bargaining power which is weak for Africa. However, we should be cognisant of its limits and what it can do. The platform has not yet committed to collective negotiations or to advancing the UN framework Convention on Sovereign Debt. These remain important areas for advocacy. The good thing is that when the platform works with our own compacts, like the Common African Position on Debt, we should be able to push through with our advocacy work and narratives on Debt. The Borrowers’ Platform members committed to bring their agreed positions into the African Union, the G20, the G77 and the UN General Assembly.
Links to further Materials:
- About the Borrowers' Platform
- Communique from the 1st meeting of the Governing Council of the Borrowers’ Platform
- Modalities of the Borrowers' Platform
- What Next for the Borrowers' Platform (CSO Perspective - 8 Ideas for the future of Debt Governance)
Transcribed, edited and adapted by: Howard Mwangi, Campaigns and Communication Officer
Source: Janet Zhou, Executive Director