- Ruto told a packed auditorium at the KICC that there is need to address the current situation as countries in the continent are struggling with debt obligation.
- Ruto criticised the tendency of the international financial system to label Africa as a risky borrower despite its vast human, mineral and agricultural potential.
Image: PCS
President William Ruto on Wednesday reiterated his clarion call for the reform of the global financial architecture to address debt and climate vulnerabilities in Africa.
Ruto told a packed auditorium at the KICC that there is need to address the current situation as countries in the continent are struggling with high financing interest rates, while also dealing with climate shocks and constrained government revenues.
“A better, more responsive, and fairer international development financial architecture is urgently needed. Time is of the essence,” he said.
Ruto was speaking during the official opening of the 59th Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank Group and the African Development Fund at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre in Nairobi.
The meeting was attended by several heads of state including presidents Denis Sassou Nguesso of Congo, Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Emmerson Mnangagwa (Zimbabwe), Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Somalia) and Mohamed Menfi (President of the Presidential Council of the State of Libya).
Burundi’s Vice-President Prosper Bazombanza and Prime Ministers Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila (Namibia) and Ali Lamine Zeine (Niger) were also present.
Other dignitaries present included African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina and African Union Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, among others.
Ruto criticised the tendency of the international financial system to label Africa as a risky borrower despite its vast human, mineral and agricultural potential.
The President pointed out that transforming the international financial architecture would give Africa a fair chance to turn its immense potential into opportunity, overcome multiple challenges and develop inclusively and sustainably.
“We are told it is safe to mine in spaces where there is conflict, but it is risky to lend to African economies. What a contradiction?” he said.
Ruto said Africa needs to raise resources to invest in infrastructure and industrialisation to ensure rapid economic growth.
However, he said, the continent faces the rigid barrier of a global financial architecture that is fundamentally misaligned with the continent’s aspirations.
Ruto called on African States to work collaboratively to unlock barriers to intra-African trade using the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
“We are struggling to look for markets everywhere except in our continent. We must first sell in the market that we have,” he said.
Additionally, Ruto called for reforms in the African Union to make it fit for purpose saying the African Union Commission should be given the power to “prosecute African economic diplomacy effectively”.
“The African Union was initially a liberation movement, but we must repurpose and re-engineer it so that it addresses the challenges of the moment,” he said.
In the same breathe, Ruto said the African Union must take charge of Africa’s peace, security and stability and champion solutions to conflicts in the continent.
Additionally, he said the AU must work with African governments to close the gap in infrastructure.
Ruto also said he will make proposals for the reform of the AU, including making the organisation more accountable and its budget approved by the Pan-African Parliament.
He said the number of MPs in the Pan-African Parliament should be reduced from the current 275 to 110 members, one woman and one man from each country, to make it more cost-effective.
Ruto also called for the establishment of the African Court of Justice for the African continent to address justice matters internally.
“We don’t want African leaders being dragged to other international courts,” he said.