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Developing economies are paying roughly $500 billion more to service debt than advanced countries, according to an estimate presented by Nigeria’s finance minister and G24 chair Taiwo Oyedele at the IMF–World Bank meetings in Bangkok.
Oyedele said on October 13 that high debt and high borrowing costs had become a major barrier to inclusive, job-rich growth. The Group of 24, which represents emerging and developing economies in international financial discussions, called for more accessible and affordable concessional finance from the IMF and World Bank.
Why borrowing costs matter
A country can carry a manageable debt stock when interest rates are low and revenues are stable. The same debt becomes much harder to sustain when global rates rise, currencies weaken or export income falls.
Money committed to interest and principal cannot simultaneously fund electricity, transport, hospitals, schools or climate resilience. This trade-off is especially severe in countries that must refinance debt in foreign currency while earning most public revenue domestically.
What the $500 billion figure means
The figure was presented as an estimate comparing the debt burden of developing and advanced economies. The public remarks did not provide a country-by-country table or a methodology that would allow the comparison to be independently reconstructed immediately.
Swifte Radio is therefore treating it as an attributed G24 estimate, not as a new audited global total. The broader direction of the warning is consistent with international evidence that many low- and middle-income borrowers face higher interest costs and tighter market access.
Nigeria’s role
Oyedele is Nigeria’s finance minister and coordinating minister of the economy, as well as the current G24 chair. His intervention gives Nigeria a prominent voice in negotiations over debt treatment, concessional lending and representation in global financial institutions.
It does not announce a new Nigerian loan, restructuring or debt-relief agreement. The statement is a policy position by the group and a call for changes in how support is made available.
Debt, energy and the AI divide
The G24 warning comes as developing countries face energy and food-price pressure linked to the Middle East conflict and a strong El Niño pattern. Higher sovereign bond yields have also increased refinancing costs.
G24 secretariat director Iyabo Masha added that artificial intelligence could widen the development gap. Countries without dependable electricity, affordable capital or data infrastructure may receive little of the investment boost enjoyed by technology-producing economies.
What to watch
The practical test will be whether the annual meetings produce larger concessional windows, faster debt restructuring or specific country agreements. Senegal was cited as one case moving closer to a resolution with creditors, but no final agreement was announced in the remarks reviewed.
For African governments, the central question is not simply how much can be borrowed, but on what terms, in what currency and whether the financed projects generate durable public value.
Sources
- Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four communiqués
- Reuters, October 13, 2026
- UN Trade and Development borrowers’ platform, October 12, 2026
