STORY: UN official debunks debt trap narrative in Africa
DATELINE: Aug. 23, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:29
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: POLITICS/ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of Nairobi streets
2. various of the meeting between Kenyan president and UN officials
3. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): REBECA GRYNSPAN, UNCTAD secretary-general
4. various of UNCTAD and Kenyan officials
5. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): REBECA GRYNSPAN, UNCTAD secretary-general
6. various of Nairobi streets

STORYLINE:

A United Nations official has debunked the debt trap narrative in Africa.

Rebeca Grynspan, secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), said in a recent interview with Xinhua in Nairobi that "all the countries that have gone through the development path had debt problems in one way or the other."

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): REBECA GRYNSPAN, UNCTAD secretary-general
"I really don't agree at all. All the countries that have gone through the development path had debt problems in one way or the other. You know there are countries that have entered into debt not because they have done wrong choices, but because of system shocks that is not of our doing."

Grynspan observed that there must be national, regional and international responsibilities for Africa's public debt.

She added that there are many external factors that have contributed to Africa's rising public debt including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine crisis and climate change.

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): REBECA GRYNSPAN, UNCTAD secretary-general
"Let me take in what has happened just in the last years, you have COVID-19, the war in Ukraine, and then you have climate change. The droughts in the Horn of Africa have killed millions of livestock that are essential for people and their economic sustainability and food security. The war in Ukraine has impacted prices, the inflation in the developed world has raised interest rates and so our debt is more costly."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)