Emmanuel Macron receives in Paris on Tuesday fifteen African leaders, several senior European officials as well as ten representatives of international organizations for a summit on the recovery of the economy in Africa, very slowed down by the pandemic, announced the presidency French. The objective is to put in place financial means capable of reviving the economy of this continent, which has known only 130,000 deaths from Covid, according to official figures, but whose GDP should experience its first recession in 2021 in twenty-five years, with a decline of 2.1%. Growth should return in 2022, but at a slower pace than that of more developed countries, with a risk of “divergence”, underlines the Élysée. Hence the initiative of the French Head of State for such a summit to attract investment in Africa to the public and private sectors, penalized by risk premiums which drive up interest rates.
Benefit from special drawing rights
France proposes to give Africa the benefit of special drawing rights (SDRs) from the International Monetary Fund, exchange instruments which make it possible in particular to finance imports. The IMF is due to decide in June to issue a massive SDR issue of 650 billion dollars, of which 34 billion for Africa (24 billion for sub-Saharan Africa). “These amounts will not be enough. We are thinking about how to use SDRs from advanced countries for low income countries, ”said the French presidency, also suggesting a sale of IMF gold to fund zero interest loans to African countries.
Debt relief
Other avenues, debt relief by bringing together around a table both public and private creditors, a mechanism from which Chad has already requested to benefit. On April 27, Emmanuel Macron called for “a New Deal” to help African countries. “This summit aims to put in place a massive support package for Africa and to lay the foundations for a new cycle of growth on the continent, which will also be a relay for growth for the world economy,” Paris said. .
Participation of countries from all continents
Among the countries represented in person are Angola, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sudan, Togo and Tunisia and, on the European side, Italy, Spain and Portugal, as well as the EU.
The Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa will participate by videoconference. The UN, the IMF, the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development), the WTO (World Trade Organization), the World Bank and several international public banks will be invited. China will be represented by a senior official, who is not yet specified. The day before this summit, Mr. Macron convened a conference to support the transition in Sudan during which the rescheduling of its debt with its main donors should be studied.
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