Civil society leaders, grassroots activists, feminist groups and climate justice advocates from across the continent convened online at the Africa People’s Assembly 2025 on Economic and Climate Justice, under the theme “From Poverty to Power, From Debt to Dignity.” The assembly held on 17 October 2025 sent a clear message: poverty in Africa is not inevitable, but the outcome of unjust debt systems, austerity policies and an unequal global financial architecture—conditions that must be urgently transformed.

Poverty, Climate Crisis, and Gendered Impacts

Opening the discussions during the Global Week of Action Against Poverty, Philip Colonzo of the Pan-African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA) linked the assembly to key global observances, including the International Day of Disaster Risk Reduction, International Rural Women’s Day, World Food Day, and World Poverty Day. He emphasized that climate-induced disasters are deepening poverty across Africa, particularly for women, while global responses remain grossly inadequate.

Colonzo highlighted that the Loss and Damage Fund remains underfunded at less than USD 800 million, despite Africa’s disproportionate exposure to climate impacts. He stressed that women are among the most vulnerable, as disasters intensify existing inequalities and unpaid care burdens.

Poverty Is a Political Choice

In her opening remarks, Aminata Barry, GCAP Co-Chair, stated that poverty is not a natural condition but the result of imposed austerity, unsustainable debt and extractive economic models. She noted that African communities are trapped at the intersection of debt distress and climate vulnerability, calling for rapid, transparent debt cancellation or restructuring.

Barry emphasized that climate finance must be grant-based rather than loan-based, warning that loans only deepen Africa’s debt crisis. She outlined three core priorities emerging from the assembly: debt justice to restore dignity, climate finance that supports local and women-centered solutions, and universal social protection systems.

2025: A Crucial Multilateral Year

Reflecting on global processes, Oluseyi Babatunde Oyabisi of the Nigeria NGO Network described 2025 as a defining year for multilateralism, with key forums including the World Social Summit, Financing for Development Conference (FFD4), G20 and COP30. He identified debt relief, progressive taxation and social protection as central advocacy themes and urged civil society to move beyond critique toward strategic and accountable engagement with governments.

Feminist Perspectives on Climate and Economic Justice

Bringing a feminist lens, Memory Kachamba from FEMNET highlighted that women bear the heaviest burden of both poverty and climate change, yet remain excluded from decision-making spaces. She noted that women contribute an estimated USD 40 billion annually in unpaid care work, which remains unrecognized in economic systems.

Kachamba called for gender-responsive and transformative climate finance that reaches frontline communities and for more women in leadership to prevent gender-blind policies. She emphasized a feminist just transition, shifting Africa from extraction to regeneration and from dependence to self-determination.

Africa’s Climate Demands and Global Finance Reform

Sharing reflections from the Second African Climate Summit, Philip Colonzo noted that its declaration is strongly reform-oriented, focusing on restructuring the global financial system. Africa is demanding over USD 3 trillion by 2030 for climate action, to be delivered as grants, not loans, with adaptation prioritized in water, food systems, ecosystems and infrastructure.

The declaration also commits to universal energy access for 300 million people and clean cooking solutions for 900 million, while warning against “energy colonization” that sidelines African entrepreneurs. Participants stressed the need for Africa to speak with one unified voice in global negotiations.

Voices from the Ground

Grassroots participants brought lived realities into the discussion. Sumbah from Kibera, Nairobi, described families surviving on less than USD 2 a day, with women forced to give birth at home due to under-resourced clinics. Others highlighted the compounded burdens faced by women in conflict and displacement settings, corruption, shrinking civic space and barriers for grassroots groups to participate in global forums like COP30.

Key Demands and the Way Forward

The assembly collectively called for:

• Debt cancellation or restructuring to enable social spending and climate action
• Grant-based climate finance directed to communities
• Universal social protection systems
• Reform of the global financial architecture
• Protection of civic space and environmental defenders

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