Morocco: IMF, World Bank Hold Annual Meeting

0:00

/1861

1×

Facts

• A month after experiencing a deadly earthquake that killed nearly 3K people and caused $11.7B in damages, Morocco on Monday began hosting a week-long meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.¹
• This is the first time in five decades that the world’s most powerful lenders are holding their annual meeting in Africa — purportedly a response to criticism that developing nations in the continent have been underrepresented in the two financial institutions.²
• After two postponements due to COVID, the meeting kicked off in Marrakech with a focus on discussing a host of challenges facing the global economy, including war, inequality, and climate change.³
• Following the Sept. 8 earthquake, the IMF approved a $1.3B loan to Morocco to “help strengthen its preparedness and resilience against natural disasters.”⁴
• Though wealthier nations are reportedly reluctant to release more capital, the World Bank is expected to announce an additional $50B of assistance over the next ten years and raise $100B through contributions from advanced economies.⁵
• Amid the meeting, an Oxfam analysis has claimed that nearly 57% of the world’s poorest countries — about 2.4B people — will be forced to cut public spending by $229B over the next five years.⁶

Sources: ¹Voa, ²Abc news, ³Euronews, ⁴Al Jazeera, ⁵Africanews and ⁶Oxfam.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Actionaid international. Despite its statements and symbolic gestures, the IMF has spent 50 years failing Africa and other developing countries, while doing little to seek sustainable reforms. The IMF believes that its loans grant it the right to essentially control the economies of African nations and impose its neoliberal economic model. The IMF has put African economies into a cycle of debt and dependence — it must meaningfully change its policies instead of simply virtue signaling.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Businessday ng. The IMF and World Bank are deeply committed to Africa’s development and understand how important Africa's prosperity is to global prosperity. The two lenders have decided to hold their meeting in the continent to display how integral international cooperation is for the continent’s growth. The two have also committed to increasing support for the mounting challenges facing developing nations and are creating policies to reduce the global wealth gap and bring about sustainable solutions.