Calls for IMF and World Bank to Cancel Debts of Ebola Ravaged Nations

An alliance of African mayors is demanding that the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank cancel debts owed by West African nations that are in the grips of an Ebola crisis.

The call was issued this week in a Communiqué entitled “The Accra Accord on Ebola,” which emerged from a three-day conference of Global Alliance of Mayors and Leaders from Africa and of African Descent, according to Ghana Web. The gathering took place in Accra, Ghana and brought together participants from over 80 countries.

Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia—which are at the center of the Ebola crisis—together owe approximately $370 million to the IMF, according to Jubilee USA. Of this, $55 million is due in two years or less. Meanwhile, World Bank numbers from 2012 find that Guinea pays approximately $45 million more per year on debt than on public health.