The World Bank provides 24 000 billion CFA francs to be used as part of its new strategy for Africa, entitled "The future of Africa and how the World Bank intends to contribute". The announcement was made on 3 March by the Vice-President of the World Bank for Africa.
This new strategy stems from contributions, comments and analysis gathered from more than 2,000 people after several consultations in Africa and around the world over a period of 8 months.
The World Bank is considering a new type of partnership with Africa
This cooperation aims to strengthen the partnership between African countries and the World Bank and is structured around two axes: competitiveness and employment. Governance and public sector capacity are the foundations upon which these thematic, cross-disciplinary themes are based.
This partnership is the main instrument of implementation of the WB’s strategy. In the future, the World Bank wants to lean on the private sector, development partners and African society in order to find solutions to development problems. The institution wants to ensure more productive and efficient knowledge as well as financial resources.
The recommendations of the World Bank
Participants in this new draft strategy made recommendations including the deepening of the role of non-state actors, the implementation of monitoring and evaluation of development activities.
The World Bank has operations in 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, where its funding goes through the International Development Association (IDA) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC). The commitment of the World Bank in Africa reached a record of 11.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.
In many respects, Africa's role on the international stage is becoming more and more important, including its representation at major international events such as the G20.
Towards an enhanced role for Africa
Africa expects a lot from the French presidency of the G20. Indeed, at the 25th Africa-France Summit in Nice, President Nicolas Sarkozy promised to increase the African presence within the organization.
Since its creation in 1990, only South Africa has a seat. Many diplomats have, therefore, asked that the continent be better represented at the G20, including the presence of the Chairman of the African Union, as is the case of the European Union.
The task could prove more difficult for the Security Council of the UN, where Africa calls for two permanent seats and two additional non-permanent members in addition to the three it currently has.
The African continent also expects support from the French presidency of the G20 on issues like the fight against global warming and volatile commodity prices.
