The ONE Campaign has called on Ajay Banga, World Bank President, to prioritise and implement critical reforms to enhance access to sustainable finance for vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa as he embark on a three-day visit to Nigeria.
“More than half of low-income countries in or at high risk of debt distress are in Africa, with 16 million additional people at risk of extreme poverty if Africa’s riskiest countries fall into debt distress,” Stanley Achonu, Nigeria Country Director at The ONE Campaign, said in a statement on Friday.
He further said that in Nigeria and across many vulnerable economies, a common thread of increasing pressures and needs juxtaposed with limited capacities is evident.
According to him, the unprecedented global challenges, including conflict, climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic, and economic crises, continue to fuel inflation, instability, and inequality, trapping millions in extreme poverty and impeding progress, with vulnerable countries bearing the brunt.
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The financing needs of these countries to address global challenges remain substantial. However, the current global conditions are uncertain, making securing development financing difficult and costly.
He also said that if not urgently addressed, the rising costs of debt faced by these vulnerable countries would continue to consume their budgets, hampering investments in human capital development and potentially pushing more people into extreme poverty.
“The primary roadblock to progress is access to affordable, sustainable investment and finance. Institutions like the World Bank are crucial in ensuring that disadvantaged countries can readily access funds to address their most pressing needs. Introducing innovative approaches to obtain these resources will catalyse global advancement,” Achonu stated, disclosing that urgent leadership in these reforms by the World Bank president is imperative.
Specifically, the ONE Campaign is calling on the World Bank to among other things increase the development finance available to African countries to invest in growth and development.
While loans and grants to low-and-middle-income countries should at least triple to reflect the rapidly increasing needs in the trillions.
It also want tye World Bank to set a breakthrough goal to cut the time from proposal to disbursement in half and commit to a radical level of transparency in sharing data and evaluations.
It urged the World Bank to assure low-income countries that funding for fighting extreme poverty remains a priority on the back of what leaders and communities in the Global South want.
It also called on the World Bank to bring citizens into decision-making by ensuring that they have the opportunity to measure impact and hold the World Bank accountable for results.
