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Home Coronavirus

China must step up Africa debt relief – Ghana finance minister

7 April 2020, 12:24 PM  |
Reuters Reuters |  @SABCNews
Ofori-Atta now chairs the Development Committee - a ministerial-level forum that advises the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on development issues.

Ofori-Atta now chairs the Development Committee - a ministerial-level forum that advises the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on development issues.

Image: File: Twitter @MoF_Ghana

Ofori-Atta now chairs the Development Committee - a ministerial-level forum that advises the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on development issues.

China must do more to help ease the debt burden of African countries facing economic calamity as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, Ghana’s finance minister Ken Ofori-Atta said.

Though Africa accounts for just a fraction of global cases of the disease, its countries already face the grim impacts, with the continent’s economies expected to contract, putting about 20-million jobs at risk.

“My feeling is that China has to come on stronger,” Ofori-Atta said during a conversation on Monday with Masood Ahmed, president of the Washington-based Center for Global Development that was posted on the think-tank’s website.

“African debt to China is $145-billion or so, over $8-billion of payments is required this year … So that needs to be looked at.”

African governments are calling for $100-billion in assistance, including support for a moratorium on all external debt and eventually some debt write-offs.

In the video below, the United Nations expresses concern about the impact of the coronavirus in Africa: 

Ofori-Atta now chairs the Development Committee – a ministerial-level forum that advises the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on development issues.

He said African countries were seeking ways to increase their special drawing rights (SDR), a form of foreign exchange reserves managed by the IMF, to shield against commercial debt defaults.

“This should not happen,” Ofori-Atta added. “So we should find a way to increase SDRs or for the Europeans to offer their SDRs as a way out.”

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Africa: 

#COVID19 #Africa update: Over 8,900 cumulative cases reported on the African continent. #SouthSudan confirmed its first case in the past 24 hours. https://t.co/V0fkK8dYTg pic.twitter.com/IIllDooibp

— WHO African Region (@WHOAFRO) April 6, 2020

Reduce your risk of COVID-19: 

How to protect yourself against #COVID19 #CoronavirusInSA #Day9ofLockdown pic.twitter.com/7dgn0KyFFn

— SABC News Online (@SABCNewsOnline) April 4, 2020

 

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