Right now, a quarter of the countries in the world are in debt crisis. What’s often left out of this story are the historical roots of the crisis, in colonialism.  

From colonial powers forcing countries into debt at the point of independence, to allowing corporations like BlackRock to continue to make huge profits from debt repayments today, we can’t fight today's debt crisis without understanding its roots.   

Watch and share our new video.

The debt crisis is not an accident.  

For centuries powerful governments, institutions and corporations have used debt to control and plunder the resources of countries in the global South for their own gain. 

Zambia’s debt crisis is an example. During the pandemic, debt repayments were three times more than healthcare spending. BlackRock, Zambia’s largest bondholder have repeatedly ignored thousands of people calling for debt cancellation. 

BlackRock can do this because the financial system benefits the historically powerful. Relying on the pre-existing colonial legacy to extract wealth, our financial system is neocolonial. 

Today, we see a different kind of independence struggle happening. Together with Zambian campaigners, Sri Lankan campaigners, Pakistani campaigners, Bajan campaigners, Argentinian campaigners, and many more - we can win debt justice, and disrupt this neocolonialism.  

Will you share our video with your communities?

As part of our work on debt and colonialism, we’ve written a short briefing and a discussion pack, which we will be launching at the National Gathering on 29 October in Manchester. But if you can’t wait that long, you can find them here: debtjustice.org.uk/colonialism.

We hope you enjoy these new resources and we look forward to winning debt justice for all. 

In solidarity, 

Zak, Tess, Skye, Jerome and all the team at Debt Justice