Debt as a Tool of Colonial Power
- Roos van der Velde
- Jan 20
- 5 min read
This article was written in collaboration with Jana from Debt for Climate.
Illustration by Julie M. Elman
Coming from the Netherlands, a culture that is uncomfortable -to say the least- with speaking about money, I had learned the complexities of conversations on money and power. Still, debt had always remained a scary topic for me… anything with finances and economics really. We had touched on reparations and wealth in our discussions, however, comfortable in our own disciplinary bubbles, and with no one pioneering the ‘money and power’ discussions, we had never really set any concrete steps to take this topic up with the Collective.
Late September, at Copenhagen’s Degrowth Festival, I attended a workshop hosted by Debt for Climate. In this brief workshop, we quickly uncovered that the debt that Global Majority countries’ “owe” to debtors is, too, a global injustice. The current financial chokeholds placed on Global Majority countries through debt is just another form of modern colonialism.
I joined the Debt for Climate Research Group to learn more about the systemic challenges around our global financial systems. In this post, we will explore one central question: who owes who?
While there is a lot more to this topic, this blogpost wishes to be an introduction into the tensions around this injustice, and hopes to spark some new critical thoughts with you, the reader.
Where It All Started
Former colonizer countries, like the Netherlands, owe a huge debt to their formerly colonized territories for all the abuse, genocide and exploitation they caused to the people, animals, and environment. Reparations are often proposed as an apology for the atrocities of colonialism. But in reality, reparations remain unpaid- in some cases verbal apologies are already seen as ‘too much’ by those in former colonizer countries. For example, in the Netherlands, 46% are against apologising for their history of slavery, without even touching the topic of financial reparations.
Instead, liberated countries have been left with paying high debts, rather than receiving reparations from former colonizers (Debt Justice, 2023; Sial et al., 2025). These high debts have been acquired through several colonial pathways. In the case of Haiti, the new government was forced to pay France $150 million (an estimated $30 billion in today’s money), as compensation for their loss of excess to Haiti’s valuable resources and enslaved people. In other cases, like Congo and Zimbabwe, the colonizers had built up high debts, which were inherited by the newly liberated states- who desperately needed the money to build up their own new systems. For example, under Belgian colonization, Congo accumulated a 120 million loan from the World Bank, mostly used to import products from Belgium and invest in infrastructure to ‘export’ resources back to Belgium. This was further amplified when in the 1980s interest rates went up, forcing Global Majority countries to accept “structural adjustment programmes that imposed a range of neoliberal economic policy measures, including mass privatisation, market deregulation, and cuts to social programmes.”
Consequently, money that should have been invested in Global Majority countries after their independence, was forced into the same, old pockets. They just came up with another way to extract, exploit, and plunder- using debt as their newest imperial tool. Global Majority World countries are ambushed into high loans with high interest rates to build up critical infrastructure and essential services. Private- and public institutions of the Global Minority World jump at the opportunity to facilitate this monetary dependency. Through the debt system the plunder of formerly colonized territories continues, only this time it’s through more ‘hidden’ means of coercion and violence. Rather than using physical punishments, they mostly use new forms of sanctioning, such as legal, economic, and military mechanisms of extortion. For example, Sri Lanka is burdened with crushing debt servicing obligations, preventing investments into disaster preparedness. Consequently, the recent floods impacted an estimated 1.1 millions livelihoods as the response and recovery services became overwhelmed.
Why Is Repaying Debts Such A Challenge?
The challenge lies with the heavy, never-ending burden of debt repayment. It removes funds from public services such as investments in health, education, and climate action. Money that is highly needed for Global Majority populations disappears into the pockets of (by now, mostly private) creditors. These creditors such as the International Monetary Fund and private financial giants like BlackRock- force countries into cheap labour and into the extraction of fossil fuels, minerals and exploitation of lands, so they can finance their debt repayments. The majority of loans are in USD, Euros, or other foreign currencies. To earn those foreign currencies, countries need to export something to global markets and one of the easiest ways to earn money on the global markets is through fossil fuels, agricultural goods, and rare minerals. This export is supported by large-scale megaprojects that foster landgrabbing, expelling original land holders, destroying the environment, and serving Global Minority consumption.
These global debt structures force countries into poisonous extraction of their natural- and human resources, leaving little space for vulnerable communities to build climate resilience. This adds another layer of injustice, as the Global Majority World is most vulnerable to climate change despite contributing the least, while simultaneously their capacity to build climate resilience is further diminished due to these debt obligations. Consequently, this debt trap becomes a destructive cycle, devastating communities and their chances of a brighter future.
While colonialism comes in many shapes and forms, financial colonialism can only end if we dismantle the neocolonial structures that trap countries into debt.
Call To Action
I recognise this is not my story to tell. I have attempted to compile, summarise, and synthesize some of the many crucial resources built on years of critical thinking and on the ground work from allies across the Global Majority and Global Minority World..
Why am I writing and publishing this then, you might wonder?
I hope that while browsing this website, you’ve stumbled upon this article and gained some new perspectives on a topic that you, too, might have seen as too technical, or too economic. Hopefully, it has motivated you to think about what this debt crisis means, and now feel motivated to take some steps.
I strongly recommend you to:
Further inform yourself on the debt injustice. See an inexhaustive list of resources below.
Take action
Help spreading awareness: Spread the word & donate to movements fighting for debt justice
Vote (with your ballot and with your wallet).
Join movements like Debt for Climate.
About Debt for Climate
This article was written in collaboration with Jana from Debt for Climate (D4C. D4C is a global anti-colonial and anti-patriarchal grassroots movement, led by the Global Majority with presence in more than 25 countries. We are building power from the bottom up by uniting workers, indigenous peoples, women, faith, environmental, social and climate justice movements in the Global North and South. We call for the total and unconditional cancellation of the illegitimate financial debts imposed on Global South countries, especially in the face of the severe climate crisis, enabling self-determined just transitions away from fossil fuels, and the implementation of a New International Economic Order (NIEO).
Resources
Daut, M. (2022). When France extorted Haiti – the greatest heist in history. Link.
Debt Justice (2025). Lower-income country debt payments by creditor grouping. Link
Debt Justice (2023). The colonial roots of global south debt. A tale of plunder, exploitation and resistance. Link.
Grieve, M.J. (1993). Debt and Imperialism: Perspectives on the Debt Crisis. In: Riley, S.P. (eds) The Politics of Global Debt. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-22820-1_3
Gunathilaka, M. (2025). Sri Lanka, bound by IMF austerity under the 2023 Extended Fund Facility, grapples with crushing debt servicing obligations that have starved disaster preparedness funding. Link.
Harees, M. (2025). The Tragedy Of Turning A Disaster Into A Shameful Political Game! The Colombo Telegraph. Link.
Ipsos, van der Schelde & Kanne (2023). Nederlanders verdeeld over excuses voor slavernijverleden. Link
Omolo, J. (N.D.). DEBT BURDEN AS A MODALITY OF COLONIAL GOVERNANCE. Link.
Sial, F., Hickel, J. & Sylla, N.D. Repudiation of global south debt to meet human need. Link.
Comments