General debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly: Statement by His Excellency Mr. Alassane Ouattara, President of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire
“I call on all the continent’s partners to take bolder measures aimed at relieving our economies hard hit by the effects of COVID-19. Africa’s financial needs are estimated at US $ 100 billion per year over three (3) years, or a total of US $ 300 billion. In addition, countries should have budgetary leeway to allow them to pursue the necessary social investments and take into account security needs, especially in countries facing terrorism.
“Finally, the world must hear the Africans’ call for the cancellation of the public debt of their countries. My country supports the African Union’s efforts to collectively renegotiate the continent’s debt with the creditors, and to obtain an extension of the debt moratorium, mentioned above. But we must go further and act without further delay. African countries need lasting solutions, in particular liquidity and investments, in order to withstand the unprecedented shock suffered by our populations and to continue the development process of the continent.
Among these solutions, I recommend recourse to the Special Drawing Rights of the International Monetary Fund; a mechanism that has already proved effective during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.
“The fight against COVID-19 must not overshadow other diseases such as Malaria and AIDS, which claim more victims in African countries. Above all, it must not destroy efforts to fight poverty. In this area, my country has launched vigorous reforms that have reduced poverty by 15.6 percentage points in eight years.
The regional study on poverty by the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and the World Bank confirms that Côte d’Ivoire has gone from a poverty rate of 55.01% in 2011. at 39.4% in 2018. It is therefore about 1.6 million Ivorians who were lifted out of poverty during this period.
“Likewise, still according to recent statistics from the World Bank, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of Côte d’Ivoire has more than doubled, from 1120 US dollars in 2011 to 2290 US dollars in 2019. , making Côte d’Ivoire the country with the highest per capita income in the West African sub-region.”