Harvard Center for International Development 257d ago

“Africa pays five times more for debt than others—because of bias, not risk. We need a global financial architecture that works for us, not just on us.” — Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli, CEO & President, The ONE Campaign At Harvard CID’s Friday Speaker Series, Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli outlined how Africa can shift from aid dependency to leadership. She spotlighted systemic bias that overprices African debt, urging reforms to the global financial architecture, better data transparency, and African-led credit assessments. ONE’s agenda includes mobilizing domestic resources—aiming for 35 African countries to self-finance basic healthcare by 2035—and leveraging diaspora capital, innovative taxes, and “debt-for-health” swaps. Nwuneli also pushed for narrative change, partnering with creatives to “flip the script” from risk to opportunity, and called on universities and investors to back fairly priced, long-term capital (including local-currency solutions). The Q&A underscored making development investable, focusing on country-specific success, and scaling partnerships that deliver mutual returns. Organizers: Harvard Center for International Development, Harvard Center for African Studies, The Harvard Chan Africa Health Students Forum, HGSE African Student Organisation, Harvard African Law Association, Visit our website: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/cid Please follow us @HarvardCID on: LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvardcid Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/harvardcid/ Soundcloud - https://soundcloud.com/harvard-cid Bluesky - https://bsky.app/profile/harvardcid.bsky.social Stay up to date with CID Events and jobs/opportunities by signing up for our newsletter: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/centers/cid/subscribe #AfricaLeads #NdidiOkonkwoNwuneli #ONECampaign #AfricanEconomy #DebtJustice #GlobalFinance #AidToInvestment #AfricaRising #SustainableDevelopment #EconomicEmpowerment