60 Scenes
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It is wrong to think that African countries are the weakest in the multilateral system: “We are the strongest; because we are the ones who have the natural resources that the whole world needs.
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Africa needs to establish its own financial institutions: the African IMF, the Central African Bank and the African Investment Fund (…) to move from planning to implementation.
PH:DR:M. Martin SONKEU, from the African Network for Change and Development in Cameroon
During an entitled panel “A An Alternative African Perspective for Multilateralism: Strengthening the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAF) to address global challenges. African experts have called for a new approach to multilateralism and trade and have drawn up around ten rules to abide by. From Martin SONKEU from Cameroon to Leo Atakpu from Nigeria via Aloysius Kittengo, everyone is unanimous!
Maputo, Aline ASSANKPON
Martin SONKEU, from the African Network for Change and Development in Cameroon, The moderator of the panel on multilateralism and the strengthening of the AfCFTA, will make a list of the rules to remember, giving the reasons that justify the observation. It should be remembered that:
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The texts that govern the AfCFTA today can be improved because there are aspects that are just a repetition of the texts on world trade. “Although the African context is different. We need texts that take into account the specific characteristics of Africa”.
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We cannot separate development issues from security issues; these two questions are closely related. “When we talk about multilateralism, it is an interesting question and those who are in global power are ready to use weapons to keep Africa in an unfavorable situation in terms of poverty and sensitivity. We must understand that there will always be opposition to those who benefit from Africa’s resources; therefore, multilateralism is not good for Africa”.
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It is wrong to think that African countries are the weakest in the multilateral system: “Rather, we are the strongest; because we are the ones who have the natural resources that the whole world needs. All countries should come and kneel in Africa to take advantage of its resources. Africa today is going out in search of the US dollar, when Africa could implement its common currency and ensure that this currency is based on its natural resources. Therefore, everyone would look for this African currency to have the natural resources of the continent. “
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It is time for Africa to implement its financial institutions as designed, that is to say the African IMF, the Central African Bank and the African Investment Fund, all of which must be implemented to move from design to completion.
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The African Development Bank is not an African bank: “We must not deceive ourselves; when we look closely, it is foreign capital that is available. Africa must have its own institutions and not rely on outsiders to shape those institutions, including the texts governing the AfCFTA and the financial resources used comes from foreign capital. He who pays always rules his law; we will always be dependent on others if nothing is done in this regard.”
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“Africa can do it”; you must be confident, Africa can be in Pan-African multilateralism. The AfCFTA can be developed, the AfCFTA can bring Africa out of fragility.
Mr. Leo Atakpu, Deputy Executive Director of the African Network for Environmental and Economic Justice in Nigeria, register existing global financial institutions. He called for a rethink of the continent’s approach to multilateralism and regional trade, citing the failure of global financial systems and the need for financial empowerment for women. For Léo Atakpu, poverty is widespread in Africa and multilateralism can only work when Africans themselves are involved in the task that involves responding to the many challenges they face: This is to particularly concerned about the leadership challenges, decisions in Africa taking into account the realities of each Member State. Regarding the inequities seen in the redistribution of resources cited for a photo, Mr. Atakpu pointed to the uneven distribution of the COVID-19 relief fund as evidence of systemic bias. “Africa only received 55 billion SDRs,” he said, referring to Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In his analysis, the expert questioned whether African leaders were really ready for financial independence, describing some as “marionettes” and “lackeys of the West”. (AA)
How can we unify the border barriers that hinder intra-African trade? And how the AfCFTA protocol was managed, so many questions that the panelists tried to provide answers to.
The AfCFTA still does not correspond to the pan-African dream, to regional and African integration in the true sense of the subject regarding the expectations of Africans: How do you correct these failures? And even if Africa manages to win a third seat at the IMF, should we consider this as progress already?
The feminist perspective on the growing debt of the working classes also makes it possible to politicize specific issues that neoliberal discourse works to confine to the private sphere.
It is worth noting that this debate comes as the African Union moves towards the creation of its own central bank and Monetary Fund, marking a move towards greater economic independence. to the continent.
