Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, has stated that the International Monetary Fund’s $650 billion Special Drawing Rights grant, which includes $27 billion for African countries, will help to improve poor countries’ reserves.
On Thursday, he announced this in a closed-door meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and chiefs of international development organizations.
“The recent IMF release of $650 billion in SDRs, with $27 billion going to Africa, will go a long way in helping to boost reserves for developing countries,” Adesina said in a statement titled “International community must act to avert a two-speed global economic recovery post Covid-19.” “If developed countries reallocate $100 billion in SDRs to Africa, as agreed at the Paris leaders meeting and by the G7, this will help Africa recover faster.” The Presidents of the African Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and the International Labour Organization were among those present at the closed-door meeting. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, has called on the IMF, the G7, and the World Bank to help low- and middle-income nations recover from the Covid-19 problem by developing solutions.
“We’ve noticed a two-speed recovery following the pandemic, which is cause for concern,” she said.
“The composition of the 6% is changing,” said IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, “with advanced economies broadly accelerating growth, whereas most emerging markets and developing economies are falling further behind.” This is a potentially hazardous divergence.
“Continued supply chain disruptions and the risk of giving up hard-won development gains would fuel unrest and instability as a result of the disparity.”
Guy Ryder, Director-General of the International Labour Organization, stated the pandemic’s impact on labor markets was four times higher than the financial crisis of 2008-2009.
“In terms of work being done, we’ve recovered perhaps half of the damage done, but we all agree that the recovery process is incomplete, uneven, and fragile,” he said.