Morocco: adoption of the ‘Marrakech Declaration’ on the acceleration of financing for African emergence

The High-Level Ministerial Meeting on accelerating the financing of African emergence, held Thursday on the sidelines of the WB-IMF Annual Meetings, was sanctioned by the adoption of the ‘Declaration of Marrakech”, which calls for a “more equitable global financial architecture and more conducive to the development of Africa”, we learned from Moroccan sources.

This source indicates that ‘in this Declaration, the 48 countries participating in this High Level Meeting, organized at the initiative of the Kingdom of Morocco, called for the achievement of the growth priorities of the Continent, which respects sovereignty, integrity territorial territory of African States and contributes to the development of its populations.

They also called for strengthening the cooperation effort, both in a bilateral and multilateral framework, to support African countries in reducing the infrastructure deficit, in particular through increased financing, supply and transfer. technical and technological expertise and capacit
y building.

The African countries, which addressed donors, partners and friendly countries, also advocated support for the emergence of a dynamic and wealth-creating private sector, capable of supporting the development of projects. structuring infrastructure and to fill the infrastructure financing gap.

During this Meeting, they invited the Minister of Economy and Finance of the Kingdom of Morocco to work to monitor the implementation of this Declaration and to create an Inter-African Task Force which will be put to the available to the countries of the Continent for the sharing of good practices and experiences in the areas of infrastructure development and financing in Africa, support in the development of structuring and bankable infrastructure projects and support for the portability of African infrastructure projects during roadshows to raise funds from potential investors.

They also called for support for the establishment and operationalization of the Inter-African Task Force as part of an open dia
logue aimed at promoting infrastructure development activities in Africa.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to working for sustainable African co-emergence in which investment in infrastructure would play a role as a driving force for development, within the framework of joint continental and regional initiatives; to take advantage of international initiatives in terms of infrastructure for the benefit of the emergence of the African continent and to intensify their joint efforts to strengthen the business climate through the improvement of structural conditions for investment, the mobilization of financing for stimulate economic recovery and the creation of an environment favorable to entrepreneurship and innovation.

The participating countries also reiterated their commitment to encouraging the establishment of a distinct climate governance model through the spirit of partnership and African ownership and to working towards the mobilization of various sources of financing, particularly private. , in o
rder to more effectively address the infrastructure challenge in Africa and reduce pressure on their public resources.

They also stressed that despite the efforts made, they remain faced with major challenges in terms of infrastructure which plays a crucial role for the development of their industries, their value chains, the job creation, improving the standard of living of their populations and contributing to achieving the objectives of the 2030 and 2063 Agendas.

The Marrakech Declaration affirmed that the question of financing therefore remains a crucial issue to be addressed for the development of ambitious infrastructure programs, capable of filling the infrastructure deficit from which African countries suffer and that this financing effort cannot be provided solely by public resources.

The absence of active and lasting international solidarity is considerably slowing down the momentum of climate action in Africa, penalizing the continent which received, until 2020, only 12% of the annual flows of c
limate financing it received. need, it is specified in the Marrakech Declaration.

The participants in this High Level Ministerial Meeting considered that the progress made by the continent at different levels, particularly in terms of infrastructure, has resulted in the realization of large-scale projects, and demonstrates the desire of their countries to reduce the deficit that Africa is experiencing in this area and achieve sustainable development and solid growth.

They also noted that ‘the consolidation of intracontinental economic relations, in alignment with the objectives and commitments of our countries to develop South-South cooperation, constitutes a key condition for the future development of our continent and requires the establishment of quality infrastructure to support these ambitions.’

In their Declaration, African countries thanked His Majesty King Mohammed VI ‘for His leadership and commitment to strengthening inter-African cooperation, as well as the Moroccan government and people for hos
ting the Annual Meetings of the Bank Group. World Bank and the International Monetary Fund and for the warm hospitality extended to all participants.’

They also congratulated the Kingdom of Morocco for its designation as host country of the 2030 World Cup, which represents a unique opportunity to catalyze growth and the modernization of infrastructure in the Kingdom and which demonstrates confidence in the capacity of Africa to face the greatest challenges.

Source: Burkina Information Agency