Paris summit mobilizes finance and vaccines for Africa’s ‘New Deal’ | Business and Economic News

A summit in Paris on Tuesday promised to help Africa overcome the coronavirus pandemic with a “New Deal” to complete depleted boxes using the power of global financial fire and achieve a slow spread of vaccines.

The summit, which brought together African leaders and global financial institutions, launched a “new deal for Africa and Africa,” French President Emmanuel Macron said at a news conference.

According to the latest AFP news agency, there have been a total of 130,000 coronavirus deaths among African populations during the pandemic, nearly 3.4 million worldwide, although experts believe official tolls in African countries may be low.

The economic cost of the pandemic has been devastating, and the International Monetary Fund warned at the end of 2020 that by 2023 Africa is short of $ 290 billion, undermining all development efforts.

Meanwhile, the slow spread of vaccines has raised concerns that variants on the continent could later spread around the world.

It was feared at the summit that while richer countries were launching economic recovery packages, Africa did not have the means and greater inequality to follow the same path and as a result, insecurity was at risk.

“We cannot leave the African economy behind,” the recent summit statement said.

Call for waiver of vaccine patents

Macron said there is also a large imbalance in terms of limited access to African coronavirus vaccines, and at the summit it was expected that patents would be revoked to start creating Africa for its owners.

Taking the slow pace of vaccination as the main problem on the continent, Macron sought a vaccine for 40 percent of African people by 2021.

“The current situation is unsustainable, unfair and ineffective,” he said.

“We are urging the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Drug Patent Community to remove all of these intellectual property restrictions that block the production of certain types of vaccines,” Macron added.

Senegalese President Macky Sall denounced the “change in mentality” in the approach as the G20 nations realized that their well-being depended on the progress of vaccines in Africa.

“We have a common responsibility; the inclusion of one’s own population does not guarantee health security, ”he said.

“This is a great opportunity for Africa,” said Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, the current head of the African Union. The pandemic “impoverished our economy by all the means we had to fight the disease because we had to use the few means we had.”

Kristalina Georgieva, head of the NDF, has warned that accelerating the spread of vaccines in Africa will not have any economic consequences either.

“It is clear that there is no lasting way out of the economic crisis unless we get out of the health crisis,” he said.

In the area of ​​finance, “we will use the international financial system to create the much-needed fiscal space for African economies,” the final statement said.

The signatories said the IMF would now encourage a rapid general allocation of $ 650 billion in special rights (CSR) to all its members, of which approximately $ 33 billion would go to Africa.

DGEs are active reserves used to strengthen the financial situation of members of the IMF, based on a basket of currencies, which can be converted into much-needed dollars.

The United States is in favor of this IMF payment to address the economic impact of COVID-19, including low-income countries.

Macron said in a press conference that several rich countries agreed to channel the CSR quota to African countries because $ 33 billion is “too little” because voluntary contributions could increase the African share by $ 100 billion, to which the IMF could add. some of his gold reserves.

Some experts have criticized CSR for making easy money for tax-free nations, and Tuesday’s statement called on countries to “use these new resources transparently and effectively.”

‘World Growth Champion’

Leaders of the summit promised that CSR would be complemented by “flexibility of debt and deficit ceilings”, but also called on countries to make “necessary reforms at the national level”.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the former head of the European Central Bank, promised that the summit proposal would be accepted by groups of G20 countries and “all multilateral institutions in the world.”

Draghi said the debt restructuring would be a major effort to help Africa.

Georgiev said “there is a very dangerous divergence between advanced economies and developing countries, especially in Africa.”

French President Emmanuel Macron has welcomed African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina next to Côte d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara on the right ahead of Tuesday’s opening summit session. [Ludovic Marin/Reuters]

He said Africa’s economic growth was just 3.2% this year, behind the remaining 6 per cent forecast for the world.

The African Development Bank predicted that 39 million people could fall into poverty this year due to the pandemic, which puts many African countries at risk of debt.

At the summit, a moratorium on public debt service agreed by key global lenders in April was approved.

The summit came after a conference on Monday, with several heads of state aimed at supporting the Sudanese government.

Leaders attending Tuesday’s summit will also discuss debt relief initiatives and how to reduce interest rates on the African private sector to boost investment and growth.