Bissau-Guinean economist Carlos Lopez considers the debts of African countries to be "ridiculous" compared to northern countries. He was speaking in the aftermath of the recent meeting of the Summit for a New Global Financial Compact, which took place in Paris. Among the most debated topics were the sovereign debts of the most vulnerable countries that weigh so heavily on their economies, writes RFI.

The meeting brought together more than 40 African leaders, and the economist noted the weak capacity of African countries to secure financing on international markets.

"In every sense, Africa's debt is ridiculous. If we take into account what the bank responsible for global regulation in the banking system, the Bank of International Settlements, says, there is a gap created by sovereign debt of 800 billion dollars where Africa's 800 billion is nothing. And then, to complicate things, we can look at debt in relation to GDP and Africa's ratio is very low, it's 60%, the average for rich countries is 120%, so we're not primarily responsible for the debt," explained economist Carlos Lopes.

Carlos Lopes was in Paris to follow the summit and was also part of the group of 12 economists who made various proposals to stimulate the global economy in order to finance the most vulnerable countries, which are finding it more difficult to invest in sustainable development. With global warming, the economist argues that Africa is paying a higher price than its contribution.

"If we follow the scientific reports and compare them with the amounts and attitudes of the different countries in order to be able to meet the demand to contain the climate and climate change on various fronts, in particular the temperature, of 1.5 degrees by 2050 we are nowhere near that trajectory. The idea is to find out who is responsible. African countries emit around 3% of total emissions and when we look at the continent's contribution to carbon capture, we are contributors to the solution, we are not part of the problem and we should be compensated for that," he said.

At this forum, Carlos Lopes ensured that the voices of African and Latin American countries were heard.

"During this summit we had loud voices saying 'enough is enough', we don't want this discussion anymore. We've had President Lula, President Rutto of Kenya, President Ramaphosa of South Africa, we've had a series of African protagonists all on the same page, with the Prime Minister of Barbados, and so there's a good chance that this year we'll be able to achieve some important results," he said.