Mozambique, along with other African countries, is seeking a third seat on the Board of Directors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to speed up the restructuring of the continent’s public debt.
The idea was defended this week in Marrakesh, Morocco, by the Mozambican Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, Amílcar Tivane, at the meeting of the African Constituency of IMF Group 1, of which Mozambique is a member.
In his speech, Tivane spoke of a window to materialise the will and aspiration of more than 10 years ago, at the level of the Group 1 African Constituency.
Constituencies are groups of countries from a particular region of the world that meet at ministerial and expert level to discuss common issues linked to the development and socio-economic and financial stability of each country.
According to “Notícias”, the minister explained that the third seat for sub-Saharan Africa at the IMF aims to ensure an improvement in the standard of voice and representation of this part of the continent.
“So let’s not waste too much time; let’s focus on the process to ensure that, in fact, the note that will present the architecture of the distribution of the 45 countries among these three constituencies already has a clear outline. I agree with the establishment of the Joint Ministerial Committee (Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Kenya),” he said, adding that Mozambique and Zambia are part of the consultation group.
For Mozambique, the desirable thing would be for there to be a work schedule before the end of the Marrakesh meeting, with clear targets for the evolution of the process.
“I don’t think we should wait until April. In December, we need to have the architecture, therefore, of the division of the three groups,” said Amílcar Tivane.
The session also saw the presentation and adoption of the Executive Director’s Annual Report 2023, a document that portrays global and regional economic developments and the economic outlook for sub-Saharan Africa.
It also presents policy issues formally discussed by the IMF Executive Board during the period under review, including macroeconomic analysis, policy and strategy, and IMF lending and operations.
AIM
