§ Mr. HealeyTo ask the Secretary of State for International Development if she will make a statement on progress in writing off the debts of the most impoverished countries in Africa. [132181]
§ Clare ShortOf 35 countries that could qualify for debt relief under the enhanced HIPC initiative, 30 are in Africa. Nine out of the 11 countries that have so far qualified are African. One, Uganda, has completed the HIPC process. As much as two-thirds of the debt owed by these countries could be written off.
A further 11 African countries could qualify for debt relief under HIPC by the end of the year, though some of these do not meet the standard HIPC requirements. The international community recently agreed to show flexibility in assessing countries' eligibility for relief, focusing on actions that are critical for poverty reduction.
After this group of countries it will be difficult to make substantial progress—nine of the 10 remaining African countries are affected by conflict.