Buhari seeks access to 25% unused donor funds for African countries

The summit is also being used to strengthen bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and France,

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the International Finance Institutions to approve 25 to 30 percent of unused Special Drawing Rights (SDR) for African countries.

President Buhari tabled the request Tuesday while contributing to debates at the ongoing African Finance Summit holding in Paris, France.

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In a statement from the presidency, the President said the 5.12 percent, or SDRs 33 billion out of SDR500 billion, approximately, $650 billion that will go to African countries is “inadequate” to cope with the growing financial stress facing the continent.

Buhari said Nigeria welcomed the decision to use part of the unused SDR to recapitalise International Financial Institutions, which he said will also enhance their ability to provide concessional credit facilities to vulnerable countries.

The summit is also being used to strengthen bilateral cooperation between Nigeria and France, which already has an investment portfolio worth over €776 million and USD592.3 million, spread across about 15 projects in Nigeria.

President Buhari, while making case for expansion of credit facilities to the private sector, noted that “In situations where public sector balance sheets are over-burdened, there should be additional lending to the local private sector and public-private partnerships”.

Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Kristalina Georgieva, in her contribution, said Africa must be assisted by her friends to “return to the remarkable development progress witnessed before the global coronavirus pandemic” as well as “take full advantage of the tectonic shifts in the global economy toward digital-driven, low-carbon and climate resilient growth. There is an urgency to focus on financing Africa.”

Georgieva noted that the pandemic-caused recession shrank the GDP of the continent by 1.9 percent – the worst performance on record.

She said: “This year, we project global growth at 6 percent, but only half that – 3.2 percent, for Africa.

“This is a dangerous divergence. It ought to be the reverse:  Africa needs to grow faster than the world – at 7 to 10 per cent – to meet the aspirations of its youthful populations, and become more prosperous and more secure.”