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| Mr Olayemi Cardoso and Mr Taiwo Oyedele |
Developing countries, speaking through the Nigeria-chaired Intergovernmental Group of Twenty-Four (G-24), have issued a forceful call for fundamental reforms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), more effective sovereign debt mechanisms, expanded affordable financing from the World Bank, and the full delivery of at least $300 billion in annual climate finance by 2035. The demands were set out in the communiqué from the group’s 116th ministerial meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, held on the sidelines of the 2026 IMF–World Bank Annual Meetings.
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, chaired the gathering. The session followed preparatory work by G-24 deputies, chaired by Nigeria’s Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Finance, Raymond Omachi. Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Olayemi Cardoso also participated in the ministerial discussions. Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb served as first vice-chair, underscoring the group’s rotating leadership among emerging and developing economies.
The G-24, a coalition of developing countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, has long advocated for greater voice and fairer treatment for emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) within the Bretton Woods institutions. Under Nigeria’s current chairmanship, the group sharpened its focus on overlapping crises that are disproportionately hitting poorer nations: geopolitical tensions, volatile commodity prices, trade restrictions, tighter global financial conditions, and more frequent extreme weather events. These factors, the ministers warned, are driving up borrowing costs, weakening currencies, and pushing more countries into debt distress while constraining investment in infrastructure, healthcare, education, and economic transformation.
The $500 Billion Debt Cost Penalty
A striking element of the discussions was Oyedele’s citation of estimates that developing countries are paying roughly $500 billion more in debt costs than they would under conditions comparable to those enjoyed by advanced economies. “What we have seen by members of the G24 and across, particularly the developing countries such as those in Africa, is an increasing body of not just high debts, but high costs of debts,” Oyedele told reporters at a G-24 press conference.
Iyabo Masha, director of the G-24 Secretariat, reinforced the point: heavy debt repayments are restricting the resources available to finance growth. For many highly indebted countries, limited fiscal space, external financing pressures, and declining official development assistance have created a vicious cycle. Debt service crowds out spending needed for inclusive, job-rich development—precisely the transformation many governments are struggling to deliver amid high youth populations and climate vulnerabilities.
The group therefore called for more predictable debt restructuring processes, greater transparency, improved credit-rating methodologies that better reflect country realities, and stronger coordination among official and private creditors. Ministers welcomed initiatives such as a new borrowers’ platform supported by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) aimed at strengthening sovereign debt management capacity. They also urged the IMF and World Bank to expand access to affordable, particularly short-term concessional financing for the most vulnerable countries while supporting longer-term efforts to mobilise private capital.
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Reforming the IMF: Quotas, Voice, and Program Design
Central to the communiqué is a demand for accelerated reform of the IMF’s quota system. Quotas determine both financial contributions and voting power. Developing countries have long argued that the current structure fails to reflect shifts in the global economy and under-represents EMDEs, including the poorest members. The G-24 insisted that reforms must protect the representation of emerging economies and low-income countries rather than dilute their relative voice.
Progress on the 16th General Review of Quotas has been slow; as of earlier in 2026, consent levels still fell short of the required threshold, prompting deadline extensions. Attention is already turning to the 17th review, where the G-24 wants meaningful realignment. The group also called for greater flexibility in the design of IMF-supported programmes so that they safeguard social spending, protect investment, and avoid overly contractionary adjustments that risk undermining recovery.
These governance demands sit within a broader push for a stronger global financial safety net anchored by a well-resourced, quota-based IMF.
Without credible representation reforms, the legitimacy and effectiveness of the institution in serving its full membership remain under question.
Climate Finance and the $300 Billion Target
On climate, the ministers demanded full implementation of the international commitment to mobilise at least $300 billion annually in climate finance by 2035. Developed countries, they stressed, should lead in delivering this financing while substantially increasing resources for adaptation—an area of particular urgency for many African and other vulnerable economies that have contributed least to historical emissions yet face severe impacts.
Oyedele emphasised that African countries should not be forced to increase emissions to achieve growth or sacrifice development to protect the environment. The G-24 also urged the World Bank and other multilateral development banks to expand affordable financing through guarantees, risk-sharing instruments, and mechanisms that crowd in private investment.
Strengthening domestic capital markets and scaling up local-currency lending were highlighted as ways to reduce foreign-exchange risks that often amplify debt vulnerabilities.
Tax Cooperation and Domestic Resource Mobilisation
The communiqué further called for stronger international cooperation against tax avoidance, profit shifting, and illicit financial flows that drain public revenues from developing countries. At the same time, Oyedele cautioned against imposing new or higher taxes on vulnerable populations and productive sectors amid current economic strains.
Governments, he suggested, should first look inward for efficiency gains and better revenue mobilisation without adding to household and business burdens. Debt and taxation both ultimately serve the people, he noted, and require careful balancing.
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Broader Context and Implications
The Bangkok meetings occur against a backdrop of subdued global growth prospects, persistent geopolitical fragmentation, and concerns that rapid advances in artificial intelligence could widen the digital and economic divide if developing countries lack the infrastructure and skills to benefit. Many low-income countries already face high debt-service burdens, and the SDG financing gap remains in the trillions annually.
Nigeria’s leadership of the G-24 builds on earlier priorities set under previous Nigerian chairs, including calls for fairer international financial architecture, innovative development finance, and climate action that accounts for differing national circumstances under the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The group’s positions align with broader Global South advocacy seen in the G77, African Group, and recent financing-for-development processes.
Whether the IMF, World Bank, and major shareholders will translate these demands into concrete progress remains the open question. Quota realignment has historically moved slowly. Debt treatments under frameworks such as the G20 Common Framework have delivered uneven results.
Climate finance pledges have often fallen short of needs and timelines. Yet the clarity and consistency of the G-24’s message—amplified by Nigeria’s chairmanship—add pressure at a moment when multiple crises are testing the resilience of the multilateral system.
For developing economies, the stakes are high. Without more affordable financing, fairer governance, effective debt solutions, and scaled-up climate support, the path to inclusive growth, job creation, and climate resilience will remain steeper.
The communiqué from Bangkok is both a diagnosis of structural imbalances and a demand for practical reforms that better align global financial institutions with the realities and aspirations of the majority of the world’s people.
Samuel O. Sulaimon is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Naijapiz. He covers News, Sports, Finance, Faiths, Education, Politics and Technology.
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