The initiative , taken in 1992 by Canada , Denmark , England , France , Germany , the Netherlands and Sweden , to cancel as much as $ 15.1 billion of ODA debt owed by least developed countries , equivalent to 14 per cent of total concessional bilateral debt , benefited mostly the low-income African countries . The United States of America announced its willingness to write off up to half of the debt owed to it by the poorest , International Development Association ( IDA ) -eligible African countries .