LONDON (Financial Times) – Two days after Dominique Strauss-Kahn, IMF managing director, told a conference on the global economic crisis in Dar es Salaam that he could be Africa’s “voice” at next month’s G20 summit, Mr Kikwete told the Financial Times: “Of course that’s okay with us.”
But whereas no African leaders attended the previous G20 meeting in Washington in November, he said Gordon Brown, the UK prime minister, had invited Meles Zenawi, his Ethiopian counterpart, to participate in the London meeting next month.
“We will be represented, but if we can have somebody else amplifying our message, then especially after this conference it’s the right thing for the IMF to do, because now they have our views, our opinions,” Mr Kikwete said in at interview at State House in Dar es Salaam.
Africa has not experienced a systemic banking crisis but the global downturn is threatening to undo a decade of economic progress by depressing exports, commodity prices, foreign investment and remittances. Growth in sub-Saharan Africa this year is likely to halve to just over 3 per cent, the fund predicts.
At the IMF-organised conference, African finance ministers and central bank governors released a joint declaration calling on G20 countries to help cushion the impact of the crisis by raising aid to Africa and giving the continent a place in global stimulus plans.
The fund’s relevance had been called into question during the recent run of global growth, during which China made in-roads into Africa with a series of multi-billion dollar investment deals.
But the IMF has been revived by the financial crisis and in Tanzania Mr Strauss-Kahn and African policy makers declared their intent to build a “stronger partnership” based on more financing, greater flexibility and reforms to IMF governance to enhance Africa’s say.
Mr Kikwete won a spontaneous round of applause when he told the conference this week: “If an African country was responsible for the current financial crisis the IMF would have jumped on us without invitation, with conditionality, roadmaps and benchmarks.”
Trevor Manuel, South Africa’s finance minister, said the world’s model of capitalism was broken and “some of those who proselytised this model are employed by the IMF”.
“It is certainly time for advanced economies to be less arrogant,” Mr Strauss-Kahn said. “The way leaders of advanced economies address leaders of the rest of the world has to change and it is in the process of changing.”
Endorsing Mr Kikwete’s stance, Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank, said: “Africa does not need a spokesman at G20 who is not African.”
He said the IMF was more relevant than ever today and that it had changed since the painful era of “structural adjustment” reform programmes. But he added: “There are serious legacy issues.”
Speaking after Mr Strauss-Kahn addressed the conference, Francois Kanimba, governor of Rwanda’s central bank, said “that’s a great speech, but so far I don’t know what he means” in terms of new financing and flexibility.
“Sometimes we get contradictions between the statements from the top leader and the behaviour of staff on the ground. You can get confused,” he added.
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FORUM | 11 Comments
Here is a clear indication that the mercenary dictator Meles Zenawi is working as hand and glove with neo-colonialsts and racist leaders to kill and supress the freedom loving Ethiopians and the rest of horn african people.The leader who give his military to rape and kill his own people,the ogadenis and brutally silenced elected political leaders and their followers shouldn”t have been invited in any so called economic forum unless he is the tool of the west and it showed clearly that Meles is a mercenary leader that will be the yes man for the west.
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March 15th, 2009 at 3:19 AM
He is a britsh puppet. Every body knows that. That is why we Ethiopians have been saying NO to this rat.
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March 15th, 2009 at 6:05 AM
It is not only because Meles is British’s puppet but it is also because any foreign country including England even USA is running for its own advantage. So we have to clearly know that it is our responsibility to fight against this dictator regime. We should not expect something miracles to destroy Woyane.
One thing is very clear. While we Ethiopians are fighting againest the melese regime, foreign countries will not support us and they will not be aginst us. Until the last minute they will work any diplomatic work with Woyane and when a new democratic government come to ethiopia they will imidtely start to work with that new government. That is how forein relation or deplomatic relation works.
So we shold not commit the same mistake over and again, expecting support from othe developed countries. NO!! That doesn’t work.
LET US UNITED! UNITY IS STREANGTH! ONE ETHIOPIA!!!
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March 15th, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Is Melese the only one invited from Africa? If that is the case, I think there something which we dont clearly observe
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March 15th, 2009 at 10:53 AM
They invite their yes men to stand at the corridor while the real deal is shaped inside closed doors of the G8 and the rest would sign the declaration. They will not invite true leaders of Africa like President Isaias who could challenge them about their destructive policies. The meeting will assign more debt to Africa that will last for generations to pay it off. IMF is the global loan sharks who prey on poor nations.
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March 15th, 2009 at 12:31 PM
The west seems to be a very slow learner if it learns at all from its previous mistakes. Why would they repeat otherwise what even Tony Blair admited it was a big embarasement to have Meles among the folds? I wonder what more errands the wast may be contemplating to destablize our region yet!
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March 15th, 2009 at 1:46 PM
Do the so called G-20 extended invitations to dictator Meles assuming he is a good leader or to present him as poster child for misery as we Ethiopians are reduced to?.
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March 15th, 2009 at 6:02 PM
How can the European Union support a repressive regime that is giving a full moral support to another evil genocider military tyrant of Sudan?
This is the shame of all shames. How can Africa be represented by a tyrant like Meles? Every Ethiopian and every African in Europe should march in London opposing the Tigraian-Woyanee regime.
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March 15th, 2009 at 8:34 PM
It is not fair to ridicule the PM just because he is not in line with your dreams for local political ideas in Ethiopia. He is a skilled politician. He can represnt Africa as an African.
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March 15th, 2009 at 10:08 PM
Vampire and kehadi banda Melese and Co. on our and the next and next and next generation name get the loan to save in their British Bank account.
Wegen, tenese eyayeh atmut!
Agerachenen ke neo-colonialist and Bandawoch entebeqat!
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March 16th, 2009 at 2:00 AM
Islander, you obviously have no idea what you’re talking about. Please take the time to educate yourself about the current situation in Ethiopia, the very fact that you’re here witnessing all this here and now makes you responsible. If you choose to do that, this website will have ample rescources in its archives, there were many in history who were by-standers and whenever they opened their mouths it was an open grave – so you owe it to yourself to first know what’s going on then after forming an objective opinion to then talk nothing but the truth.
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March 17th, 2009 at 7:52 AM