- Says Africa Should Think of More Tailored Approaches..
By Abiola Olawale
Eminent Scholar- diplomat, former Chief of Staff to the immediate past president, Muhammadu Buhari, and a former United Nations (UN) Under-Secretary-General (political), Professor Ibrahim Agboola Gambari has expressed strong concerns about the impact of financial strategies advocated by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for Nigeria and the broader African continent.
Gambari argued that these economic prescriptions have exacerbated the challenges in Nigeria rather than alleviating them.
Gambari, who had also previously served in various capacities including as Nigeria’s minister of Foreign Affairs as well as Nigeria’s Ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations from 1990 to 1999, urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and African leaders to critically reassess the prescriptions of the multilateral financial institutions with a view to abandoning them.
He called for a more pragmatic approach, espousing a more tailored and effective strategy to foster true development and prosperity within the continent.
Speaking as a guest lecturer at the 12th-anniversary lecture of Realnews Magazine in Lagos, Gambari said Nigeria and Africa need to reject the prescriptions and embrace homegrown solutions that would reflect the interest of the continent.
He said: “As a Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nigeria in 1984, the administration rejected the prescription of the IMF and the World Bank and their interference in our system.
“That government believed that it was time for Africans to define our problem and find our solutions in developing our institutions while fighting for the reforms of those global institutions that we are very poorly represented in.
“We need to think about how we can solve our problems. We are members of the international community and we are contributing much to the development of the world. It is about time we define our problem and define the ways we will resolve it.
“We are not rejecting partnership because we will not be in isolation but partnership in which we are real partners that will serve our interest. If the prescriptions of the World Bank and IMF are correct, we should not be struggling the way we are today.
“As I reflected on the theme of this anniversary lecture, I was reminded of the popular saying, May you live in interesting times. It is generally thought to have originated from ancient China although there is a lively dispute as to whether it was meant as a curse or a blessing.
“Whatever the case may be, it is fair to say that we are indeed living in interesting times in the world, comprising an admixture of positive and adverse developments that are working in complementary to shape the process of change that is unfolding. Integral to the dynamic of change that is taking place is the breakneck speed at which it is happening.
“Across all spheres of human endeavour, change is taking place at a velocity that is as impressive as it is also potentially disorienting. Events in our everyday lives unfold with a rapidity that ensures that even before we accustom ourselves to them, they are already superseded by new happenings.”
According to Gambari, Africa occupies the place of a much sought-after bride on account of its growing and youthful population that promises lucrative market outlets and a source of labour, its rich natural resource endowments, including the critical minerals needed to power the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and the fact that it is the home to 60 per cent of all the arable land in the world.
“Africa, with an abundance of such strategic sites, is, not surprisingly, the target of competitive bids from the big and middle powers setting up military bases. We know that the entire seaboard of Africa is already dotted with military bases operated by various powers; the continent is once again at the centre of a scramble as the new Cold War intensifies.
“In addition to geo-strategic considerations in the event of conflicts and war, there are strong interests in securing access to and control of strategic and critical minerals and arable land and forests. Competitive investments are also being made in building stable and durable political alliances with the governments of various countries; the age of zero-sum geopolitics is back with all its destabilising consequences for African countries.
“Furthermore, as part of a bid to influence the choices of African countries at a time of global realignment, an industry in bilateral summitry with the continent is booming with practical every actor with any modicum of clout convening the leaders of the region to summit meetings around the world.
“That means that we must be ready to harness our abundant human and natural resources to leapfrog our development to achieve the structural transformation that has eluded us for too long. It also means that we cannot afford to sit on the sidelines while the rules of a new world order are being written.
“We have the opportunity to insist on being joint rule makers so that the new global order being forged reflects our values and aspirations for a fairer, more inclusive, and equitable world. In this, we must ensure that our youth bulge is turned into an advantage that puts us at the forefront of the digital economy and the innovations underpinning it,” he said.
The New Diplomat reports that this issue has been on the front burner of discussions and arguments amongst Nigerians.
Many had called on the government to reassess the recommendations of the World Bank and the IMF because of the worsening economic situation of Nigeria.
However, some economists have also argued that those recommendations should be revised in order to put Nigeria on a positive trajectory.
