Africa’s debt crisis is blocking progress for its youngest children. While governments spend over $119 billion each year on debt interest payments, essential investments in healthcare, childcare, and early education remain critically underfunded. Redirecting even a small share of these resources could transform child well-being and economic futures.
This project, commissioned by Theirworld, provides the evidence base for a landmark report launched ahead of the 2025 G20 Summit in South Africa. It examines how coordinated debt relief could free resources to achieve three catalytic goals for early childhood development (ECD): universal family support, universal healthcare, and universal preschool education.
Findings show that reallocating just 3% of GDP from debt servicing to child-focused policies could lift 166 million people out of extreme poverty, save over 4 million children’s lives annually, and enable more than 50 million women to enter formal employment. Proven mechanisms—such as debt standstills and sustainability assessments—could turn debt relief into long-term investment in children’s futures.
By demonstrating the scale of lost opportunities, the project calls on the G20 to move from managing crises to prioritising debt relief as a tool for sustainable development and children’s rights.
Explore the full report here or consult our background paper ‘Sovereign Debt and Child Well-Being in Africa: Expanding Policy Space Through Debt Standstill’ for detailed evidence and methodology.
