When Macron sidelines Biya from global finance summit.

07/06/2023

President Paul Biya is reported by Jeune Afrique not to have been invited for a Summit on a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, which is billed to take place on June 22 and 23 at the Palais Brongniart, the headquarters of the Paris Stock Exchange.

The crucial summit, hosted by France and Germany, will aim to propose solutions to finance issues of climate, debts, access to health and the fight against poverty in less developed countries.

For the Central African Subregion, where Cameroon is the engine of the economy, Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo and Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno of Chad are the two leaders invited.

In the West African Subregion, Nana Akufo-Addo of Ghana, has been invited while Nigeria, the leading economy in the continent, is not on the list. There are however speculations within the diplomatic circle that the health conditions of some of the leaders might have influenced the selection of African invitees.

Though hosted by two countries, the preparation of the summit is being carried out by a high-level international steering committee composed of states and international organisations to underline its importance. 

It includes France, Barbados, South Africa, Germany, Brazil, China, United Arab Emirates, United States, India, Japan and the United Kingdom. Others are Senegal, the European Commission, the United Nations Secretariat, International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Organisers are unanimous that the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and their successive consequences have indeed reduced the fiscal and budgetary space of many countries like Cameroon, affecting their ability to finance their populations’ access to basic social services. 

As a result, the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, noted a decline in human development in nine out of 10 countries around the world last year, mainly due to a drop in life expectancy and an increase in poverty.

In a statement on January 6, 2023, Catherine Colonna, the French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs, declared that the summit would aim to “build a new contract with the North and the South”, in order to facilitate the access of vulnerable countries to the financing they need to address the consequences of ongoing and future crises.

Four main objectives which will be followed up on by four working groups will aim to: Restore fiscal space to countries facing short-term difficulties, especially the most indebted countries; foster private sector development in low-income countries; encourage investment in "green" infrastructure for the energy transition in emerging and developing countries and mobilise innovative financing for countries vulnerable to climate change.

Paris also perceives the Summit as a continuation of the summit on the financing of African economies, organised in the French capital in May 2021, which resulted in the release of special drawing rights from the International Monetary Fund to support post-COVID economic recovery in Africa.

Ahead of the Summit and in the context of multilateral development bank reforms, the Pandemic Action Network and 19 organisations from around the world have issued a statement calling for the inclusion of pandemic debt relief clauses in new country lending agreements.

Another civil society organisation, Global Citizen, is also calling for urgent reforms of the global financial architecture to build a sustainable, just and equitable world. In particular, Global Citizen is inviting citizens to sign a petition addressed to world leaders and financial institutions, urging them to keep their commitments, increase their financial support and implement a carbon tax.

As the organisers have pointed out, the war in Ukraine has increased the rate of poverty, especially in developing countries that are struggling with debts. But is the money the European Union, United Kingdom and United States are pumping into Ukraine for destructive purposes not more than enough for debts relief?

Why should the independent developing countries with abundant resources think they can always turn to the developed nations for assistance, instead of developing their economies devoid of corruption which has been pervasive? 

Does the West even keep some of the promises made at such international conferences aimed at "assisting" developing countries? Those are some of the questions many commentators expect answers at the Summit.

Though President Biya might not be at the Summit of a New Global Financing Pact in Paris, we, however, hope that Cameroon, with its mountain of debts, will benefit from some of decisions of the international rendezvous.