UN Speech by Ivory Coast President: “Bolder Measures” Needed To Help African Economies Hit by COVID-19

Debate
Other press by DR General debate of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly by videoconference: Statement by HE Mr. Alassane OUATTARA, Head of State of the Republic of Côte d`Ivoire, September 24, 2020
September 28, 2020
The remarks by President Quattara at the United nations echoed those of other leaders of developing nations. However, we must contemplate taking even bolder action. The present global financial-economic system needs to be restructured.  The Bretton-Woods system as envisioned by President Franklin Roosevelt has been distorted beyond recognition.  The amount of debt and derivatives on the books of the international banking system is suffocating real economic expansion. Yes, we must have a debt moratorium for the duration of the crisis, but we have to do more. We have to construct a New Bretton Woods that will deflate existing unpayable debt and establish  standards for prioritizing the issuance of new credits explicitly for development; in particular infrastructure.  The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the fore, for all the world to see, the gross failure of the current globalized system. We, humanity, will only progress when we establish a higher platform of economy, one dedicated to the promotion of human life, not the balance sheets of debts. Read: New Economic Order Required to Combat COVID-19 in Africa

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

Excerpts below:
“Faced with the spread of COVID-19, developing countries, especially African countries, are more severely affected by the economic and social effects of the absence of global initiatives in favor of of their savings. In this context, in my capacity as Champion for the implementation of the African Union’s Agenda 2063, I welcome the initiative of the G20 to grant a moratorium on the service of the bilateral public debt for the benefit of several African countries.

“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.”

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