Brazzaville (Congo), February 25, 2021 – As part of the Seventh session of the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development (ARFSD 2021), the United Nations Economic Commission (ECA), through the African Institute for Economic Development and Planning (IDEP), in partnership with the Government of the Republic of Congo, the Open Society Initiative for West Africa (OSIWA), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Center for Studies and Research on Economic and Policy Analysis (CERAPE) organized, virtually, a round table on the theme Preparatory and capacity-development workshop for major groups and other stakeholders in the Africa region: Building Forward Better on Debt Management.
This meeting was held in the presence of the Head of E-learning and Knowledge Management Division of the Institute of Development and Economic Planning (IDEP), Thierry Amoussougbo, the Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, Ms. Pamela Coke-Hamilton, the Former economic adviser President of Senegal and non-resident senior fellow of the Center for Global Development (CGD), Mr. Daouda Sembène, the Director of the Country Economics Department of the African Development Bank, Mr. Emanuel Pinto Moreira and the Director of the Center for Studies and Research on Economic and Policy Analysis (CERAPE)/Member of the Technical Advisory Committee (IDEP), Mr. Jean Christophe Bongou Banzika,
The objective of this side event was to discuss the impact of debt moratorium over the access of the African economies to capital markets, asses to which level the debt cancellation/debt management would call for stronger taxation policies in order to increase the resources for financing for development and propose specific recommendations to address the need of fiscal space to finance development policies in line with the 2030 SDG agenda.
The Head of E-learning and Knowledge Management Division of IDEP, Thierry Amoussougbo, talking on behalf of the Director of the Institute, Karima Ben Soltane, said that “an effective debt management in countries is an intrinsic part of sound public financial management and overall good governance”.
Thierry Amoussougbo added that “Covid-19 pandemic has worsened the debt situation even further. The need to spend more in a raft of public health measures to save lives together with the slowdown in economic activities following partial or full lockdowns and general economic slowdown, are all exerting considerable pressure on government finances. As a result, most governments are forced to run wide fiscal deficits that are slowly translating into increasing debt and debt distress”.
“Debt need to play a meaningful role and must be used for revenue generating activities that increase the productive capacity of the economies of the region. Countries should therefore borrow smarter, understand their real needs, ensure good terms and effective management of their debt while holding creditors to higher standards on transparency and sustainability”, he concluded.
The Executive Director of the International Trade Centre, Ms. Pamela Coke-Hamilton said that “debt is an issue, especially in Africa”. For her, “African governments should be encouraged to urgently support economic activities”.
Issued by:
Communications Section
Economic Commission for Africa
PO Box 3001
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Tel: +251 11 551 5826
E-mail: eca-info@un.org