Demand £1.7bn be returned to fight poverty
Just a few months after making commitments to reduce poverty in Africa, the UK Government is poised to receive £1.7 billion from Nigeria in debt repayments – more than double what the UK government will spend on poverty relief for the whole of Africa.
Nigeria currently owes rich countries a total debt of £19 billion and has already repaid more than twice that amount; much of this debt is made up from arrears and interest left by the previous dictatorship. A new government in Nigeria is working hard to overcome an appalling legacy of corruption and has committed to spend all the money it saves from debt cancellation directly on poverty reduction initiatives, such as essential health and education services.
Despite all the promises they made to Africa in 2005, the UK government is missing a huge opportunity to help Nigeria fight poverty.
