Africa to forge stronger partnership with IMF for better financing

DAR ES SALAAM, March 11 (Chinese media) -- African financial policy-makers on

Wednesday pronounced their readiness to forge a stronger partnership with the

International Monetary Fund so as to ensure better financing for the continent

to sustain hard-won gains and to restore conditions for future progress.

In a joint declaration issued at the end of an IMF conference for African

finance ministers and central bank governors, the policy-makers underlined six

building blocks for the envisaged stronger partnership with the international

financial institution.

African countries attending the Dar es Salaam conference desired enhancing

IMF surveillance over the financial policies of all its members; expanding the

IMF's financing facilities and their accessibility to low-income countries;

consolidating the debt relief process; accelerating reforms of IMF governance to

enhance Africa's voice and representation; strengthening the policy dialogue

between the IMF and its African members; and reinforcing the IMF's catalytic

role in leveraging public and private financing for Africa's critical

infrastructure needs.

At the closing plenary session of the two-day conference, jointly conducted

by IMF Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Tanzanian President Jakaya

Kikwete, World Bank Managing Director Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, participants

reiterated their call to the international community that Africa has the primary

responsibility to deal with the fallout from the ongoing global financial crisis

and the international community must meet their aid commitments to the

continent.

Thanks to assistance from the international community, Africa has seen

robust growths in the past decade, with some countries registering annual growth

rates of between 6 and 7 percent which have in turn led to low inflation, strong

fiscal balances, growing foreign exchange reserves and large increases in

foreign direct investment.

But the IMF warned out prior to and during the Dar es Salaam conference

that without the honoring of aid commitments, Africa's achievements could slip

away in the face of encroaching financial crisis and economic downturn which are

causing commodity prices to fall and market demands for African products to

shrink.

Conference participants agreed that a stronger partnership with the IMF is

required so as to ensure that Africa's financing needs are addressed. They also

asked for expanded and accelerated capacity building apart from enhanced policy

dialogue which they believed would contribute to strengthening policy advice and

police effectiveness on the continent.

The Dar es Salaam conference concluded that African countries and the IMF

should work together toward shared goals of making IMF

financing more timely and responsive and of increasing Africa's

representation of the IMF.

African finance ministers and central bank governors agreed to review their

joint commitments with the IMF via the African Consultative Group every six

months to check on the implementation of these commitments.

The IMF and its African members were trying hard to convey their message

over to the scheduled G-20 Leaders' Summit to be held in April in London.

The Tanzanian president demanded a strong regulatory mechanism of national

and international financial systems to facilitate prudent global economic

management.

"If given the mandate, the IMF can play an important role in the conception

and establishment of the systems for early warning and pre-empting such crisis

in future," he believed.