Strong partnership and efficient use of resources vital to faster post COVID-19 recovery in Africa – IFAL

The International Forum on African Leadership has urged African countries to strengthen governance and international partnerships, while also making maximizing its abundant natural resources.

This is according to a press release, seen by Nairametrics.

Recall that Nairametrics had earlier reported the prediction by IMF that African countries will experience a financing gap of $345 billion due to the harsh and debilitating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. It is, therefore, pertinent to brainstorm on strategic ways by which most of the affected countries can recover faster after the pandemic

What they are saying

Commenting on the way forward, the President of the Republic of Malawi, Lazarus Chakweras, told the forum: “We owe it to posterity to leverage the partnerships that we have and forge new ones to expedite the resurgence of our economies.

‘’African leaders must be at their creative best to secure critical global partnerships and to drive the continent’s economic resurgence.

The President further added that “The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that poor governance damages public trust in government interventions. We cannot attract the world to our nations if our nations are in disarray.”

In a similar vein, the President of the African Development Bank, Akinwumi Adesina, in a keynote speech, demanded strong leadership and a shared sense of collective responsibility.

He said that: “The speed and quality of the economic recovery process from the pandemic will depend on our shared sense of collective responsibility and the financial capacity of developing countries to address immediate shocks, stabilize their economies, and invest in growing back.

In addition, he called for the maximization of domestic resources, noting that: “Africa must grow by mobilizing domestic resources, especially by unlocking its over $1 trillion in pension funds, sovereign wealth funds and insurance funds to help close the annual infrastructure financing gap estimated at $64-108 billion.”

“Africa will build back faster by also harnessing and better managing the revenue streams from its abundant natural resources, including minerals, metals, biodiversity, blue economy, forest resources, agriculture, and oil and gas, to boost domestic savings.

What you should know: This year’s edition of the International Forum on African Leadership was held virtually on December 4, 2020, in a bid to address the pathway to Africa’s economic resurgence. It was organized by the African Leadership Magazine with the theme; Rethinking Global Partnerships and Africa’s economic resurgence