The site of the annual meetings of the World Bank and the IMF, in Marrakech, October 8, 2023 (AFP/FADEL SENNA)
Half a century after the organization of their last annual meetings on the continent, the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are back in Africa from Monday for their big rally in Marrakech (Morocco), under the sign of reform and climate financing.
It is a tradition for both institutions: once every three years they organize their meetings away from their headquarters in Washington to be closer to their areas of intervention.
But this Moroccan edition seemed cursed: initially planned for 2021, it had been postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which severely disrupted international travel and to which the Shereef kingdom had responded with strict control of its borders.
Then, a deadly earthquake struck the region, just a month before the arrival of the many participants, causing around 3,000 victims and significant damage. The Moroccan government, however, confirmed that the event would take place.
An organization all the more important as Africa risked in any case being at the center of numerous conversations, faced with both a debt crisis hitting several countries on the continent, the consequence of global warming and a poverty which is reducing less quickly than elsewhere.
During her traditional curtain-raising speech, delivered Thursday in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva stressed that “a prosperous 21st century requires a prosperous Africa”, while advanced economies are faced with the aging of their population.
The first measures announced should above all be symbolic, with the creation of a third seat granted to African countries on the boards of directors of each of the two institutions.
On the IMF side, Ms. Georgieva was optimistic that this progress would soon be achieved, which would give more voice to the continent. For the WB, the American Department of the Treasury has declared itself in favor of such a development, making it almost a given.
– No magic money –
But the central point will concern financing. Because both for their missions — eradicating poverty and helping countries in difficulty — and for the theme on which they are expected, climate financing, it is above all a question of money.
However, the main countries are not in favor of an increase in capital which would force them to put their hands in their pockets or would strengthen the weight of the large emerging countries, China and India in the lead.
Therefore, it is difficult to obtain more. On the BM side, the main progress in this area should be the confirmation of an additional 50 billion dollars over the next ten years, thanks to various accounting operations.
Its president, Ajay Banga, hopes to go further and bring the total to 100 or 125 billion dollars, thanks to contributions from advanced economies without changing the capital structure of the institution, several having already announced that they are ready to do so. .
But it is unlikely that the subject will be finalized in Marrakech.
In this area, progress could come from a modification of the countries’ quotas, which give them access to financing, and which are in proportion to the participation in the capital of the institutions.
The large countries are open to the idea of modifying the distribution key, in favor of the least developed or developing countries, a file which could move forward during the week.
The announcements could, however, leave countries seeking to avoid default or finance energy transition projects hungry, but also NGOs, who accuse the two institutions of pushing for austerity, reinforcing the gap between rich countries. and poor.
Even more, little notable progress is to be expected regarding climate financing while many voices are being raised to criticize the lack of aid in this area from the two institutions, which defend themselves by emphasizing what they are doing. already in the matter but also insisting on the fact that they cannot achieve it alone.
The NGOs are planning several events in Marrakech during the week to denounce what they consider to be a lack of will on the part of the two institutions.
© 2023 AFP
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