Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director, speaking at a press briefing on the Fund’s Global Policy Agenda for 2025 in Washington D.C., recommended reducing tax evasion, boosting domestic revenue, removing trade barriers, and addressing corruption and conflicts.
“The African continent is having some of the fastest growing economies, [but] there is still a lot that can be done,” she said, emphasizing the need for deeper collaborations.
“Africa has so much to offer the world; obviously they have the minerals, the natural resources, [and] the young population. A more unified, more collaborative continent can go a long way to be an economic powerhouse,” she added.
Georgieva noted that while the current trade tariff shocks would have minimal direct effects on most African nations, the indirect impact would be “quite significant.”
“Different countries face different challenges [but] some basic recommendations that apply to Africa apply to Nigeria, Egypt, Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire,” Georgieva stated.
She outlined solutions including building financial buffers for economic shocks, broadening the tax base through technology, and addressing infrastructure challenges to improve growth and trade.
On monetary policy, Georgieva stressed the need for domestic assessment and targeted strategies to control inflation.
“But above all, make it so that the image of the whole continent changes, because now everybody suffers from wrongdoing— from corruption or from conflict in one country, it draws a shadow on the rest of the continent,” she said.
GNA
