President Muhammadu Buhari has stated that debts incurred by African countries prior to their cancellation for 32 countries in 2005 were not channelled into appropriate economic goods and services that could bring the much-needed growth.
He stated this on Friday at the public presentation of a book on Ambassador Bamanga Tukur titled “Legacies of a Legend”.
Buhari was represented at the occasion by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, who also chaired occasion.
He stated that debt, if properly contracted and utilised effectively, was an important instrument in the economic blueprint of a government in its policymaking sphere.
He said:
“During the latter part of my engagement there (UN), I recalled Bamanga Tukur’s activities with Tony Blair led Commission for Africa in 2004/2005 and how that led to the 2005 G8 Summit landmark decision on debt cancellation for 32 African countries.
“Prior to that, many poor African countries were using large portion of their little resources to service debt obligations.”
