By Devendra Kamarajan
NAIROBI | 27 April 2024 (IDN) — People living in Sub-Saharan Africa have high aspirations for themselves, their families, and the next generations. At the International Development Association (IDA) for Africa Heads of State Summit on 29 April, African governments, civil society, and youth will take the stage to voice their ambitions and call for even greater support from the World Bank’s soft-loan arm.
Interfaith organisations have welcomed Kenya President William Ruto’s initiative to host on 29 April the International Development Association (IDA) for Africa Heads of State Summit to mobilize funding for the World Bank’s soft-loan arm. As the largest source of grants and low-cost, long-term loans to the poorest countries, IDA enables recipients to spend on poverty reduction and development priorities without adding to debt burdens.
In a statement on 26 April, the Interfaith organisations urged to commit to a tripling of IDA financing by 2030, with a significant scaling up in IDA21. This increase will enable IDA to play its critical role as a key provider of concessional resources within efforts to expand multilateral development bank finance. The UN estimates the investment gap to meet global challenges and additional Sustainable Development Goals to range between $2.5 and 4 trillion.
Most vulnerable countries in the world
IDA recipients are the most vulnerable countries in the world, countries hosting 70 per cent of the extreme poor globally and at greater risk of climate-related disasters. The pandemic crisis caused a severe reversal in development progress, of which they are still struggling to recover, under multiple shocks. Food insecurity, climate vulnerability, cost of living and conflicts are on the rise. The average income for people in one-third of these countries remains below pre-pandemic levels.1
The interfaith organisations have called for enabling IDA to contribute to debt sustainability in borrower countries by expanding its share of non-debt-creating finance; promoting responsible lending and borrowing practices; and leveraging its lending into processes for institutionalized participation, accountability and transparency in debt contracts.
Islamic Relief fund, the All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC) – CETA, Caritas Africa, and Jubilee USA Network want to put people at the centre of reforms. IDA investments can only support strong recoveries and reduce debt vulnerability when they have behind strong societal belief on their benefits, and scrutiny of their use and results.
“IDA should open more avenues for feedback and learning from those most affected by its policies and set incentives for country-level, bottom-up processes for citizen participation in transformed instruments for lending,” the statement stressed. [IDN-InDepthNews]
Image source: International Development Agency (IDA)
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