Join on WhatsApp
Join on Telegram
Rabat – United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres condemned rich nations and energy companies for targeting poor countries with high interest rate loans and crippling fuel prices, calling the practices “predatory.”
Speaking at the UN’s Least Developed Countries (LDC) summit in Doha on Saturday, Guterres said developing nations were being left out of the digital revolution, adding that the financial system was designed to benefit wealthy countries.
“You [developing countries] represent one in eight people on Earth. I have enormous admiration for your remarkable efforts to achieve graduation, and sustain graduation,” the UN chief said. “But your countries are also trapped in vicious cycles that make development difficult,” he added.
He additionally pointed out the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic had on the world’s poorer countries, adding on the already existing inequalities stemming from lack of resources and debt.
“Combating climate catastrophe that you did nothing to cause is challenging when the cost of capital is sky high and the financial help received is a drop in the bucket,” he added.
The official equally lamented that the war in Ukraine has caused an increase in food and fuel prices for the world’s most vulnerable countries, saying that the countries left suffering required at least $500 billion a year to help overcome their issues, repay debts, and create jobs.
The gap between developing countries and their richer counterparts has been growing over the past few years, with many pointing to inherent inequalities in the international system.
With the COVID-19 crisis already having disproportionate effects on developing states, they also had to deal with the global effects of the Russia-Ukraine war that caused a rise in fuel and food prices.
Some have pointed to predatory loans from richer countries and global financial organizations, in addition to the long-standing effects of imperialism and neo-imperialism on resources in areas like Africa, South America, and the Middle East.
