Revisiting the Harare Declaration: AFRODAD, ZIMCODD and Partners Demand Financial Architecture Reforms at the 8th Zimbabwe Annual Debt Conference.
AFRODAD joined forces with the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD) and civil society partners to open the Zimbabwe Annual Debt Conference. The gathering served as a critical platform to confront the deeply entrenched systemic flaws of the global financial architecture and to map out resilient, African-led reforms for the region. Speaking at the forum, AFRODAD’s Interim Policy Manager, Tirivangani Mutazu, unpacked the harsh realities that African countries face within an inequitable global financial system, emphasising the urgent need to overhaul rigid lending practices, unfair credit rating systems, and unsustainable debt structures that cripple local economies.
Opening the landmark conference, ZIMCODD Executive Director John Maketo issued a powerful call to action, reflecting on the urgent need to revise the historic Harare Declaration itself. He pointed to Africa’s rapidly evolving polycrisis characterised by the intersection of climate change, economic instability, and severe debt distress alongside the growing fragmentation of international coordination. Maketo asserted that the current framework must be updated to effectively address today's complex economic and development realities. For AFRODAD and its partners, the conference underscored a vital truth: addressing modern sovereign debt crises requires transforming outdated declarations into dynamic, modern tools of economic resistance and structural reforms.
The press statement from the 8th Zimbabwe Annual Debt Conference