By Asmau Ahmad
African Heads of State and Government have reaffirmed their commitment to seize key opportunities to respond to multiple crises and steer their economies to transformative paths.
They said they will achieve this in partnership with the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA)
This is contained in a statement obtained by the Health Reporters from the World Bank website.
The statement said the leaders convened at the IDA for Africa Summit in Dakar, Senegal, to champion a strong start to IDA’s 20th financing cycle (IDA20).
They said that the continent was experiencing reversals of development gains triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and compounded by climate change, food insecurity, conflicts in the region and war in Ukraine.
“The Heads of State, therefore, welcomed the IDA20 financing package of 93 billion dollars to help all countries supported by IDA recover on a greener, more resilient, and inclusive path.”
The statement quoted President Macky Sall of the Republic of Senegal as saying “we are convening this summit in a context of deep crisis, marked by the double impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“While we have increased our spending to respond to the health crisis and foster economic and social resilience of our people, our fiscal space has shrunk dramatically, and debt vulnerabilities were exacerbated.
“Faced with these challenges and priorities, optimising the use of IDA resources is key.
“I would like to reiterate our appreciation for the constant support of the World Bank Group in our efforts to mobilise all available means to provide our populations with better living conditions,” it said.
The statement also quoted Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Managing Director for Operations as saying, “the world bank cares deeply about Africa.
“We are focused on its success in achieving its development goals and building a better future for all people.
“We are, therefore, investing two-thirds of IDA20 financing in Africa to help the continent make a huge leap in creating jobs and improving access to services such as education, healthcare, electricity, and others,” he said.
According to the statement, to fulfil the agenda to transform their economies, the leaders endorsed a call to action which they say will require strong leadership and political commitment.
In this context, they called for the optimal use of IDA20 resources to achieve development goals, including strengthening coordination mechanisms at the continental level.”
The statement said the leaders committed to the following key undertakings in partnership with IDA.
They included accelerating economic transformation to better responding to future shocks, investing in people, speeding up energy transition, and accelerating digitisation.
It said the other commitments were to strengthen response mechanisms to address food security and step-up implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).
According to the statement, the IDA20 financing cycle runs from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025, with focus on Building Better from the Crisis: Toward a Green, Resilient and Inclusive Future.
“This overarching theme is supported by five special themes and four cross-cutting issues,” it said.
It said the special themes were human capital, climate change, gender and development, fragility, conflict, and violence, jobs and economic transformation.
While the four cross-cutting issues were crisis preparedness, governance and institutions, debt, and technology.
The statement said the Dakar summit was attended by leaders from Cabo Verde, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Equatorial, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Liberia, Madagascar, and Malawi.
Others are Mauritania, Nigeria, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, The Gambia, Togo, the Union of Comoros, and Zimbabwe.
It said they were joined by world bank group leadership, heads of regional and UN institutions, as well as representatives of IDA donor governments.
According to the statement, this convening comes a year after the 2021 summit in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, where African leaders advocated the ambitious replenishment of IDA20 to support their recovery agenda.
The statement said IDA is one of the largest sources of funding for fighting extreme poverty in the world’s lowest-income countries.
IDA provides grants and zero- or low-interest loans to countries for projects and programmes that boost economic growth, build resilience, and improve the lives of poor people around the world.
Africa is IDA’s biggest beneficiary with 39 countries and had made significant headway in improving development indicators during six decades of partnership with the world bank.
Since 1960, IDA had provided about 458 billion dollars for investments in 114 countries.
