A final communiqué signed by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has called on wealthy economies to channel a portion of their Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) for Africa through the African Development Bank (AfDB) to meet the development needs of African states.
The communiqué dubbed ‘Accra Declaration’ mentioned the challenges including food insecurity and climate change, and also finance and capitalize African public development Banks.
It was issued after the AfDB Group Annual General Meetings in Ghana, which was held from 23rd to 27th May, 2022.
The declaration was signed by President Akufo-Addo and witnessed by Finance Ministers from Ghana, Senegal, South Africa, Nigeria and Rwanda.
According to the declaration, it is imperative to acknowledge providing the SDRs to Multilateral Development Banks will also strengthen the global financial architecture and foster greater complementarity with the International Monetary Fund (IMF)
It emphasised a decision adopted at the 35th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government that took place from 5-6 February 2022 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, calling for the “re-allocation of SDRs from willing advance economies to Africa, and recommends that a portion of these are challenged through the Africa Development Bank as prescribed holder to leverage the resources to provide greater to African economies”.
The declaration also recalled the of F15 Ministers of Finance of the African Union adopted on 21st April 2022 on the sidelines of the Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in Washington D.C., US.
It said, “There is a need to emphasize the enormous challenges posed by the persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic, the repercussions of the Russian war in Ukraine, and the severe disruptions to the development trajectories on the continent.
“And also take note of the looming food crisis, rising energy prices, skyrocketing inflation eroding consumer buying power, and the prevalence of insecurity on the continent”.
It welcomed the leadership of the African Development Bank Group to explore options for the strategic use of the SDRs to support Africa and that providing SDRs through Multilateral Development Banks has several benefits including leveraging the SDR.
The declaration added that the SDRs can be absorbed by the Bank Group as equity to further expand lending capacity to African countries and to provide additional capital and financing to development banks in Africa.
It urged the Governors of the African Development Bank to facilitate the amendment of the Articles that preclude the African Development Fund (ADF) from accessing the International Capital Markets to leverage its balance sheet and raise capital for the development of the continent.
The declaration also appealed to all shareholders to pursue the larger goal of the Bank Group becoming the preeminent financial institution in Africa and to agree to remain seized with the subject matters covered in it.
