Mohamed Maait, Minister of Finance, has said that it is time to coordinate the African position and deepen the mechanisms of cooperation to achieve continental integration, in light of the extremely severe global crises that negatively affected the economy.
These crises also imposed enormous pressures on the budgets of African countries, as a result of an unprecedented wave of inflation, which was reflected in a sharp rise in the prices of goods and services.
“This necessitates that we move together with the utmost speed, and think and work on effective programs for African hedging against global economic risks, with a unified strategy. That would be based on adopting new mechanisms such as establishing funds Hedging aimed at protecting African economies from external fluctuations.” Maait said.
In a session on financial integration in Africa on the sidelines of his participation in the meetings of the African Export-Import Bank in Ghana, Maait said, “We are looking forward to an African financial structure that is more capable of dealing with flexible mechanisms with external shocks. Our African financial institutions should be made stronger and more integrated in addressing the challenges of financing development during the coming period, especially as we need innovative African financing tools. They would reduce the cost of investment in continental infrastructure. They’d also enhance the volume of intra-trade, expanding the base of local production and manufacturing, thus reducing the import gap, and opening up promising prospects for export, which improves the competitive capabilities of African economies, attract investment opportunities, remove obstacles, and create a unified African market for goods and services.”
He pointed out that an ambitious plan should be quickly proposed, agreed upon, and implemented. It would lead to making African economies ready to contain any internal or external shocks, and meet the needs of citizens. Especially after the negative repercussions of the Corona pandemic and the subsequent consequences of the war in Europe, including the rise in financing costs in international markets and the increase in interest rates, all of which makes development financing a major challenge for various developing countries.
