Africa will soon obtain a third seat on the board of directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so that the continent has a “stronger voice” within the institution, said its managing director, Kristalina Georgieva, Thursday 5 October in an interview with AFP.

“I have good news for Africa! We are preparing to have a third representative for sub-Saharan Africa on the board of directors,” she said during her visit to Abidjan, as a curtain-raiser to the annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. which begin Monday in Marrakech, Morocco. “Discussions are ongoing about how the continent should agree and how this should be done, but what matters is that it means a stronger voice for Africa,” she added.

The World Bank also announced the creation of a third seat for African countries on its board of directors, a decision which should be validated during the annual meetings. These announcements confirm the trend of a rebalancing of the weight of developing countries within the Bretton Woods institutions. Currently, as States are shareholders, their participation is in proportion to their GDP, which gives greater power to the United States or the European Union (EU).

Recalling that the war in Ukraine, after the Covid-19 pandemic, had a “devastating impact, especially for countries with limited fiscal capacity”, Ms. Georgieva deplored the harmful effects of inflation, particularly on food products . “More than 144 million people have difficulty feeding themselves or their families” in Africa, she stressed. However, there is no question of encouraging price capping measures or fuel subsidies, for example, to stem it.

A risk of a “lost decade”

“What we want is for countries to win the battle against inflation. This is not going to happen if we inject more money without the right fundamentals for the economy to function efficiently. Rather than subsidizing the prices of food or gasoline, we recommend directly supporting the poorest populations,” insisted the head of the IMF. “We want to salute most countries, which have been very prudent in their management of inflation […] and also in their management of public spending, while gradually reducing the deficit,” she continued.

Referring to a growth forecast of “just above 3%” for sub-Saharan Africa in 2023, Ms. Georgieva however said she expected “better prospects in 2024”. And if the IMF continues, since the Covid-19 crisis, its exceptional support notably via “zero interest loans”, Ms. Georgieva assures that she is going to Marrakech to ask “more” from States but also from the private sector, highly anticipated for its contribution to emerging countries.

In its regional report published Wednesday, the World Bank for its part expressed concern about a risk of a “lost decade” for sub-Saharan Africa, pointing in particular to the “growing” instability and fragility, particularly political, as well as the rise of conflicts and violence. The region is expected to experience only 0.1% annual growth in GDP per capita for the period 2015-2025.

Asked about the situation in the Sahel, where three countries (Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger) are governed by soldiers who came to power through coups and undermined by jihadist violence, Ms. Georgieva defended the maintenance of a “minimal” aid, particularly for “humanitarian” reasons. “We have a responsibility to ensure that these countries have a minimum financial capacity. We must not forget the men, women and children who need us,” she said.