President of the Republic Chairperson of the African Union participates in the joint summit between African heads of state and the International Development Association
Nairobi
His Excellency the President of the Republic, Chairman of the African Union, Mr. Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani, participated Monday morning in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, in the work of the Summit of African Heads of State and the International Development Association (IDA), where he delivered an important speech in which he stressed that Africa certainly needs to reshape the financing resources of the International Development Association (IDA), known for its lending operations, in a strong way in order to help African countries transform their enormous potential into sustainable economic and social development promoted by strong growth, capable of generating Strong added value and job creation for African youth.
In addition to His Excellency, the summit will be attended by a number of African heads of state and government, the President of the World Bank Group, a group of international officials, in addition to representatives of civil society organizations and youth associations interested in development in Africa.
Established in 1960, IDA is one of the largest and most important providers of grants and low-interest loans aimed at supporting investment and improving living conditions, as well as working to create more prosperous societies, especially in the African continent, which is the focus of IDA.
This is the text of the speech:a
– Your Excellency Dr. William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya,
– Your Excellencies Heads of State and Government,
– Your Excellency Mr. Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations,
– Your Excellency Mr. Moussa Mahamat Faki, Chairperson of the African Union Commission,
– Mr. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group,
– Mr. Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank,
– Distinguished representatives of IDA donors and financial institutions,
-Ladies and gentlemen.
First of all, I would like to express to my brother and friend His Excellency Dr. William Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, that as much as I thank him, and through him the brotherly Kenyan government and people, for the warm welcome and generous hospitality, I warmly congratulate him on the perfect organization of this IDA-Africa Summit, which is a crucial step in the process of the 21st IDA Replenishment.
I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the President of the World Bank, Mr. Ajay Banga, for his leadership and commitment to Africa, as well as my sincere thanks, on my own behalf and on behalf of the African Union, to all the donors and stakeholders of the Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, International Development Association for their generosity and constancy of support.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This 21st IDA replenishment is taking place in a particularly difficult continental and international context, and strongly marked by multifaceted crises, the COVID pandemic, and the continued exacerbation of climate shocks, security and political crises, terrorism and armed conflicts, in Africa, Ukraine, the Middle East and just about everywhere else.
These crises and conflicts, beyond the human tragedies they drain in their wake, have a negative and profound impact on the economy in the world and, particularly, in Africa, through their induced effects in terms of disruption of supply chains, exacerbation of energy and food insecurity….
As a result, they have had a massive impact on the lives of hundreds of millions of households in low-income countries in Africa and around the world, which are IDA’s largest clients.
Also, the eradication of poverty and hunger by 2030, which seemed possible at the time of the launch of the sustainable development agenda, is now out of reach, for most African countries.
Similarly, universal access to drinking water, sanitation and electricity is also a difficult challenge.
The African Development Bank has estimated the additional financing needs for development infrastructure at between $68 billion and $100 billion per year, while the additional financing needs for Africa to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals have been estimated at $190 billion per year.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This brief table of financing needs shows, if any were needed, the urgent need for an ambitious and robust 21st replenishment of IDA’s resources, at a time when many of our countries are facing multiple obligations and constraints: debt servicing, climate shock, conflict, and refugee influx.
However, IDA resources alone will not be enough.
To finance our development, we will need massive resources, private financing and foreign direct financing.
We will need to reduce capital financing costs through an appropriate mix of concessional resources and market cost financing.
That is why I would like to express my strong support for the reform initiated by President Ajay Banga, with a view to building a larger, stronger and more effective World Bank, a world bank in which the various public and private branches operate in synergy.
I would also like to commend its efforts to reduce project preparation times and simplify approval and implementation procedures.
Finally, I welcome its enhanced collaboration with the President of the African Development Bank, my brother President Adesina, particularly in the crucial area of access to energy, and I express the hope that this cooperation will extend to other sectors and include other Multilateral Development Banks.
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
IDA plays a unique role in financing development in Africa, working in 39 countries.
Over the years, 1.5 billion poor people have benefited from IDA financing, including a significant number of our fellow African citizens.
This role must be strengthened as we face the major challenges of climate change.
That is why I reiterate, on behalf of the AU and myself, my thanks to IDA donor countries for their generosity and call for an ambitious and robust replenishment of IDA resources to meet the challenges of our time.
The cost of inaction would be exorbitant in terms of fragility and precariousness, loss of human life, years of education and development opportunities; as well as in terms of the waste of our main resource, our youth, and environmental deterioration.
We can avoid such a scenario by putting Africa on a path to rapid, inclusive and sustainable growth.
To do this, we have a lot of assets, starting with our human resources and our natural capital resources.
And it is to help us transform our enormous potential into sustainable economic and social development driven by robust growth, high value-added and employment opportunities, that we urgently need a strong IDA replenishment.
Convinced that our present summit will make a significant contribution to the achievement of that goal, I wish its works plenty of success.
Thank you