Manuel: Give Africa bigger role

Cape Town - Having elaborated the challenges being faced by Africa's developing economies, finance minister Trevor Manuel on Friday joined a rising chorus of African voices demanding a bigger role for Africa in international financial institutions.

"Ours is a history of a battle for a fairer more equitable world," he told a meeting of African finance ministers and central bank governors in a Cape Town hotel. "This period is one where we must amplify the call - neither for alms or charity - but for an opportunity to deliver to our citizens that which they deserve."

Donald Kabaruka, the president of the African Development Bank, who co-hosted the meeting with Manuel, also insisted that Africa be represented at the continuing meetings of the Group of 20 countries, summoned by President George W Bush, to discuss the global financial melt down

"We don't want to be marginalised from this process," he said. He also called for financial transparency, international cooperation and reform of the Bretton Woods institutions.

Abdoulie Janneh, the executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa told the meeting that the invitation to the G20 meeting should not be a once-off event. "We should continue to be part of this (G20) process," he said.

"We should be at the table for any discussion of the global crisis. We have a right to be there and we should claim this right."

Janneh insisted that resource flows to Africa should continue in order to maintain the price prospects and the five per cent growth that has characterised the African economies.

Investors retreating

However, Manuel, in his opening remarks at the meeting of the "committee of ten" which was established at the Tunis gathering of all the African finance ministers and bank governors two months ago, noted that Africa is likely to witness a continuing decline in development aid flows to support among other things the delivery of the millennium development goals.

"Already there is a cumulative shortfall of $240bn on the Gleneagles commitments," he said.

He said that many African countries are witnessing significant outflows of capital as recent investors retreat to square their positions in their domestic markets.

"Increasingly African states are encountering significant fiscal pressures as revenue sources dry up, as expenditures rise to meet the most elementary levels of service provision as we battle to retain expenditure levels in the face of significantly reduced GDP numbers," he said.

Other problems he listed included export markets being suddenly closed to our imports and the leading edge of aggressive marketing of products into our markets

"We are living through intense liquidity pressures as our domestic banking sector battles to secure the finance to on-lend," he said. And he added: "We are seeing the first wave of unemployment as many direct investors scale back or shut down their operations."

The three tasks of the Cape Town meeting Manuel said are firstly to take stock of the impact of the current global recession on Africa, secondly to explore actions derived from this taking stock, and pass them to heads of state for action. Finally the meeting wants to make a case for the governance reform of multilateral institutions for enhanced African participation.

- I-Net Bridge