President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, in its views on addressing challenges facing Africa, has said that higher borrowing costs are deepening Africa’s debt burden.
Kegame said this in his address while highlighting the continent’s pressing issues as he concludes his term as the Chair of the African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) on February 15.
He made the highlights during the 40th Session of AUDA-NEPAD Heads of State and Government Orientation Committee that he attended virtually.
The meeting aimed at discussing health and infrastructure financing in Africa.
He mentioned that higher borrowing costs are deepening Africa’s debt burden, however, there are available tools to get economies back on track.
Examples being the International Monetary Fund’s new Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), and the Debt Service Suspension Initiative, he said.
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He said it is estimated that Africa needs about $2.5 trillion of climate finance by 2030, of which the gap has been widened by other economic urgencies such as inflation, high interest rates, among others.
He also identified that Africa continues to lag behind in terms of pharmaceutical production, Kagame said. “Africa’s efforts to bridge this gap are crucial to our health security.”
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic, the need for Africa’s public health self-sufficiency was brought on the spotlight as it was put back on the queue to acquire life-saving vaccines.
Kagame also reiterated that when it comes to ongoing geopolitical conflict, what Africa wants is peace.
These include insecurity threats in different parts of the continent such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Central Africa Republic, eastern DR Congo, among other countries.
To better support the implementation of AUDA-NEPAD programs, the agency needs to be financed in a predictable and sustainable manner. Overall, the budget has fallen significantly as voluntary contributions have declined. This increases dependency on development partners.
Naturenews reports that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt was elected the new Chair of the African Union Development Agency.
