By Adama Jallow
According to the International Monetary Fund IMF, $425 billion is needed to recover from the pandemic with $30-50 billion annually for climate adaptation. Adding that for commodity importers, the war in Ukraine will add $6-10 billion to financing needs each year.
As international support remains crucial, with the ongoing emergency, fragile and conflict-affected states at risk of falling further behind, the war is adding to an already significant financing need.
Raising up those considerations at the Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara International Conference Centre in Kerr Serign, the IMF Resident Representative in the Gambia Mr. Mamadou Dioulde Barry, offered a broad presentation on the launch of the In-country for the April 2022 Regional Economic Outlook for Sub-Saharan Africa with the theme “A new Shock and Little Room to Maneuver”.
Barry outlined that the IMF is committed to providing adequate financial support to its most vulnerable members and that the 2021 SDR allocation provided some buffers: $23 billion SDR allocation to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), $100 billion SDR rechanneling through the IMF new facility, the Resilience, and Sustainability Trust (RST) long-term concessional financing for climate and pandemic preparedness.
He recommended that to reduce debt vulnerabilities, there is a need to accelerate the effective implementation of the G20 Common Framework.
