IMF, World Bank hold first meetings in Africa in 50 years
The Hindu
IMF and World Bank gather in Marrakesh, Morocco for first African meeting in 50 yrs. Pressure to reform to better aid poor nations blighted by debt and climate change. IMF and World Bank to give Africa a third seat on their executive boards. Global lenders to reform quota systems and focus on cancelling debts of poorest nations, imposing taxes on the rich.
The IMF and World Bank gather in Morocco Monday for their first annual meetings on African soil in 50 years, under pressure to reform to better aid poor nations blighted by debt and climate change.
The International Monetary Fund and World Bank traditionally hold their annual gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors outside their Washington headquarters every three years.
The southern Moroccan city of Marrakesh was supposed to host it in 2021, but the gathering was postponed twice because of the Covid pandemic.
A powerful earthquake that killed nearly 3,000 people in the region south of Marrakesh last month threatened to derail the event again, but the government decided it could go ahead.
The IMF and World Bank last held their meetings in Africa in 1973, when Kenya hosted the event and some nations were still under colonial rule.
Half a century later, the continent faces an array of challenges ranging from conflict to a series of military coups to unrelenting poverty to natural disasters.
"A prosperous world economy in the 21st century requires a prosperous Africa," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said in a speech in Abidjan last week.
With a new government in place in Delhi, Singapore hopes to schedule the Ministerial Roundtable with India shortly, says Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan. In an exclusive interview, he speaks about the impact of the elections on ties, the “missed opportunity” of RCEP and the new buzz around Andhra Pradesh’s capital Amaravati.