The world promised progress at the Glasgow climate conference. Now it has to turn those promises into reality. A former senior UN official describes what to watch for in the coming year.
Informal head porter workers Percent Boatemaq (left) and Lusaka Fuseina (right) carrying goods on their heads at Agbogbloshie market in Accra, Ghana.
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Influential international actors like the World Bank and the IMF should focus on expanding social protection rather than focusing on eliminating the informal economy.
A January 2012 demonstration against the removal of petroleum subsidies in the northern Nigerian city of Kano.
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If done effectively, the reallocation could help African countries deal with COVID-19, climate change and their many other economic and social challenges.
Zambia’s new president Hakainde Hichilema.
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Zambia’s new president will have to balance austerity and the high expectations of the many unemployed young people and struggling people who voted for him.
IMF to inject $650 billion in Special Drawing Rights into the global economy.
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The IMF’s injection of US$650 billion worth of Special Drawing Rights into the global economy opens a window for African countries to reform their relationship with the fund.
South Africa’s National Treasury now proposes to reduce salaries. On the face of it this seems sensible. But the fundamental issue is the structure of the public service.
The IMF wants government intervention on climate change. It’s now abundantly clear Australia’s climate policies are at odds with even the most conservative approach to economic management.
Central bank (in the background) can no longer perform its function of being the lender of last resort.
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Zimbabwe wants to issue a sovereign bond to raise $3.5 billion it has agreed to pay as compensation to white farmers, but the economic and political conditions aren’t conducive to such an issuance.
IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva and World Bank group president David Malpass have offered debt relief to developing countries.
African countries should tread carefully over the debt relief offered by multilateral institutions and other lenders. It could prove very costly in the medium to long term.
South Africans will know the terms of the IMF loan at the end of July.
A blanket solution to Africa’s debt burden risks costing African countries dearly in terms of access to international capital markets and the relatively lower cost of borrowing.
Africa is facing a profound crisis that could set its development back a generation. It needs a solution to its debt problems that doesn’t cripple countries.