“Admitting the African Union to an enlarged G21 would have the same galvanizing effect in Africa that the EU’s participation in the G20 has in Europe, strengthening coordination and policy coherence among the fifty-four (54) African economies. “

These were the words of the President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Wednesday, September 22, 2021, when he in turn addressed the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, in New York, at the United States. from America.

According to President Akufo-Addo, “with the African Union at the table, the group would suddenly have representation in fifty-four (54) more countries, 1.3 billion more people and $ 2.3 trillion more. more. This extraordinary increase in representation will add just one seat at the table, and about ten minutes to the discussion. “

The president was convinced, however, that he will redefine the coordination of global policies to enable the emergence of a more prosperous, inclusive and sustainable world.

Reiterating Africa’s commitment to the fight against climate change, he affirmed that “the fight is all the more advanced as we manage to maintain the crucial balance between economic, political and environmental imperatives – positions that we will articulate in Glasgow, at the COP 26 Conference, which should be part of the new Global Compact. “

Time for the Marshall Plan for Africa

The president said that even before the outbreak of the pandemic, many concluded that the current structure of global economic cooperation, devised 77 years ago, has proved inadequate to finance infrastructure and economic transformation in developing countries. development.

According to him, “given the inability of the global financial system to deliver the results needed to finance sustainable development, we need a constructive review. COVID-19 is a historic opportunity to rethink global economic cooperation, based on all economies of reciprocity. , equity, sustainability and collective prosperity. “

COVID-19, the president said, has resulted in a drop in revenues of some $ 150 billion, with African economies still reeling from the economic impacts of the pandemic.

“African governments have already spent meager reserves to fight the pandemic and provide social protection to millions of affected households. Ghana advocated that innovative finance must also address structural challenges beyond meeting immediate fiscal needs, by providing mechanisms to facilitate investments in health infrastructure, technology, environment and people that would strengthen resilience and equitable recovery, ”he said.

President Akufo-Addo noted that the historic SDR 650 billion allocation from the International Monetary Fund should be used as a catalytic effort to take Africa to the next level of human development and ensure sustainable global prosperity.

“African leaders have advocated for prudent and transparent channeling of at least twenty-five to thirty-five percent (25% -35%) of SDRs, or one hundred and sixty to two hundred and thirty billion dollars, from the richest to the most vulnerable countries, of which one hundred billion dollars ($ 100 billion) should be spent on Africa. We welcome the support of the European countries, represented at the Africa summit in France, the IMF, the G7 and the G20, for a certain redistribution of SDRs, ”he stressed.

The President continued, “The historic allocation of SDR 650 billion from the IMF offers a unique opportunity to provide additional financial resources to address the vast and growing injustices that the pandemic has exposed and a crisis to come. Africa’s allocation is approximately thirty-three billion dollars ($ 33 ​​billion). If there ever was a time for an African Marshall Plan, it is now!

The Marshall Plan, officially European Recovery Program, ERP) was an American initiative adopted in 1948 for foreign aid to Western Europe. The United States transferred more than $ 13 billion (the equivalent of about $ 114 billion in 2020) in economic stimulus packages to Western European economies after the end of World War II.

The proceeds of channeled SDRs, reiterated President Akufo-Addo, should finance the acquisition and manufacture of vaccines, climate and green investments, and a pan-African stability mechanism such as the European Stability Mechanism, which would preserve financial stability over the years. the continent.

Part of the redistribution, he added, should also finance the recapitalization of the African Development Bank and Afreximbank to support industrialization, private sector job creation and the free-market initiative. African continental exchange.