BoG Governor Urges IMF to Act Faster on Africa’s Debt Crises and Financing Gaps

Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Johnson Pandit Asiama, has called on the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to overhaul its response to Africa’s growing economic challenges, warning that existing tools are too slow to address the continent’s overlapping crises.

Speaking at the African Consultative Group meeting at IMF headquarters, Dr. Asiama stressed that incremental reforms would not be sufficient. The meeting, attended by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, brought together African central bank governors amid rising debt burdens, climate shocks and tightening global financial conditions.

Dr. Asiama acknowledged the Fund’s stabilisation role but argued that its current approach to sovereign debt restructuring is no longer fit for purpose. He called for faster and more predictable debt resolution, urging the IMF to use its influence under the G20 Common Framework to ensure timely completion of debt workouts with stronger participation from private creditors.

He also criticised the IMF’s programme design, noting that delays caused by creditor negotiations are often treated the same as domestic policy failures, which he said undermines reforming countries stuck in prolonged restructuring processes.

According to him, delayed debt resolutions across Africa are prolonging uncertainty, discouraging investment and limiting access to international capital markets. He described the macroeconomic environment as “exceptionally challenging,” citing high borrowing costs, fragile fiscal positions and repeated external shocks, including spillovers from the ongoing Middle East conflict.

While welcoming the IMF’s broader policy direction, Dr. Asiama called for a “step-change” in response mechanisms. He urged reforms to debt sustainability frameworks for low-income countries, wider use of the IMF’s Integrated Policy Framework and faster deployment of crisis-response tools for vulnerable economies.

The governor also called for more aggressive use of IMF resources, including scaling up concessional financing, accelerating the reallocation of Special Drawing Rights and making facilities such as the Resilience and Sustainability Trust more flexible.

Beyond financing, Dr. Asiama emphasised the need for continued technical support from the Fund in areas such as domestic revenue mobilisation, debt management, financial sector oversight and emerging risks linked to digital assets and cybersecurity.