AfDB To Host Policy Dialogue On Sustainable Debt Management In Africa

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – Ahead of the Eighth edition of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8), African Development Bank (AfDB) has announced that it will host High-Level Policy Dialogue on sustainable development in Africa.

AfDB said the virtual policy dialogue scheduled for Tuesday 23 August will be convened as a side event to the TICAD8 which will be held within that period.

TICAD was launched in 1993 by the Government of Japan, to promote Africa’s development, peace and security, through the strengthening of relations in multilateral cooperation and partnership.

It is led by the Japanese government and co-hosted by the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (UNOSAA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Union Commission (AUC), the World Bank.

TICAD is an inclusive multilateral platform, which provides a forum to explore innovative, sustainable, and equitable development pathways across Africa.

One of TICAD’s primary aims is to facilitate global partnerships between the public and private sector. As a co-organizer, the UNDP has supported TICAD as thought leaders, in providing expertise on both conceptual and regional matters.

Through TICAD) framework, UNDP continued to work with the Government of Japan to assist African countries address the socioeconomic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, promote peace and stability – including peacekeeping operational support-, and enhance resilience of communities to materialize the concept of Human Security.

In addition, the UNDP has helped facilitate coordination and partnerships, advocacy for sustainable development, and drawn upon its vast network in Africa in order to provide logistical and operational support.

TICAD7 was held in 2019 in Yokohama city, Japan and attended by more than 10,000 participants. Notably, TICAD8 will be attended by an array of senior government officials, creditors, economists and debt experts from international financial institutions and multilateral development banks.

The Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, Mr. Hirokazu Matsuno said TICAD8 would strongly support African-led development and aim at setting out a pathway for African development looking ahead to the post-COVID-19 era, as the pandemic has had given a considerable socio-economic impact also on Africa.

The conference comes at a time when Africa is experiencing a recession after nearly three decades of relatively consistent development gains. This unprecedented health emergency has tested multilateralism, international cooperation and the global community’s resolve to find global solutions to complex challenges.

Meanwhile, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, compounded by the current conflict between Russia and Ukraine, have caused disruptions in global economic activity and trade. Africa has not been spared. The continent faces a difficult balancing act: shielding vulnerable people and economic sectors from the impact of the war, on the one hand, and containing debt vulnerabilities, on the other.

Sovereign debt remains a threat to Africa’s economic recovery, despite recent debt-relief initiatives and interventions, including from the AfDB, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Although Africa’s debt-to-GDP ratio is expected to have stabilized in 2021 and 2022 due to growth recovery and debt-relief measures, it will remain above pre-pandemic levels.

“This policy dialogue event will unpack current and future debt architecture, including how to better capitalize on international initiatives such as the G20 Common Framework for debt treatment beyond the Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI)”, AfDB said in a press statement today.