Comments on: What Africa needs from the G20 http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/blog/2009/02/what-africa-needs-from-the-g20/ from the Global Economic Governance Programme at the University of Oxford Mon, 06 Dec 2010 15:39:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: “White blue-eyed bankers” and their impact on Africa « Rudi von Arnim http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/blog/2009/02/what-africa-needs-from-the-g20/comment-page-1/#comment-342 “White blue-eyed bankers” and their impact on Africa « Rudi von Arnim Sun, 29 Mar 2009 13:25:43 +0000 http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/blog/?p=193#comment-342 [...] Woods adds some meat to what Africa needs from the G-20, via the excellent GEG-site on the [...] [...] Woods adds some meat to what Africa needs from the G-20, via the excellent GEG-site on the [...]

]]> By: Africa and the G20 summit « From Davos to Seattle http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/blog/2009/02/what-africa-needs-from-the-g20/comment-page-1/#comment-13 Africa and the G20 summit « From Davos to Seattle Thu, 12 Feb 2009 09:10:53 +0000 http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/blog/?p=193#comment-13 [...] Bank , global governance , institutional reform , international development Ngaire Woods profiles what’s on Africa’s agenda for April’s meeting. The list is fairly modest and the [...] [...] Bank , global governance , institutional reform , international development Ngaire Woods profiles what’s on Africa’s agenda for April’s meeting. The list is fairly modest and the [...]

]]> By: Soren Ambrose http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/blog/2009/02/what-africa-needs-from-the-g20/comment-page-1/#comment-6 Soren Ambrose Tue, 03 Feb 2009 10:04:45 +0000 http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/blog/?p=193#comment-6 Ngaire, Thanks for inviting comments, and for these provocative suggestions. I'd like to weigh in on your 3 proposals in reverse order - #3 - I'm glad to see this suggestion, as I think the 2nd sentence captures some realism often missing in this debate - it's not about percentages but processes. So I'm surprised to see the 3rd sentence's focus on the Managing Director, since nothing is going to change there for awhile, and besides I think we still have to figure out just how much DSK has changed the equation already. What's most promising (tho still a long shot), I think, is the suggestion of "double-majority" voting - tho that's relegated to a footnote in your linked article. #2 - I don't get the sense that the WB staff/mgmt feels nearly as inhibited by the Board as you seem to suggest. Indeed, I don't think this Board is making sure they're following the rules, including a lot of important rules designed to safeguard the rights of project-affected people. Given the complexity & size of the WBG, effective oversight is a difficult problem, but I'm not sure I agree on the basic diagnosis. I don't see which reform would get the WBG to a place where I'd want it to be the agency taking more risks with less supervision. Greater involvement from higher levels at gov't is clearly needed, and at a regional level, but making the WBG the platform throws in an element of power distortion that could well unbalance things quickly. #1 - Ngaire, spare us more Africans trained by the IMF & WB and returning to their home gov'ts! Already I think we've got a situation where IMF ideology has basically won out in many African countries because of precisely this kind of movement - it's no longer a case of arguing against the IMF as trying to expose the IMF assumptions ensconsed within. And even as the IMF, maybe maybe, shifts ideologically, we're going to be stuck with SAP-style thinking in Fin Mins here for another decade or two. The "training" from the IFIs doesn't get translated into nuanced debates among high-level thinkers, but stubborn dogma enforced down the line. This has to be most dangerous development of the last 15 years (and your most lamentable provocation!). Soren Ambrose Nairobi, Kenya Ngaire,

Thanks for inviting comments, and for these provocative suggestions. I’d like to weigh in on your 3 proposals in reverse order –
#3 – I’m glad to see this suggestion, as I think the 2nd sentence captures some realism often missing in this debate – it’s not about percentages but processes. So I’m surprised to see the 3rd sentence’s focus on the Managing Director, since nothing is going to change there for awhile, and besides I think we still have to figure out just how much DSK has changed the equation already. What’s most promising (tho still a long shot), I think, is the suggestion of “double-majority” voting – tho that’s relegated to a footnote in your linked article.
#2 – I don’t get the sense that the WB staff/mgmt feels nearly as inhibited by the Board as you seem to suggest. Indeed, I don’t think this Board is making sure they’re following the rules, including a lot of important rules designed to safeguard the rights of project-affected people. Given the complexity & size of the WBG, effective oversight is a difficult problem, but I’m not sure I agree on the basic diagnosis. I don’t see which reform would get the WBG to a place where I’d want it to be the agency taking more risks with less supervision. Greater involvement from higher levels at gov’t is clearly needed, and at a regional level, but making the WBG the platform throws in an element of power distortion that could well unbalance things quickly.
#1 – Ngaire, spare us more Africans trained by the IMF & WB and returning to their home gov’ts! Already I think we’ve got a situation where IMF ideology has basically won out in many African countries because of precisely this kind of movement – it’s no longer a case of arguing against the IMF as trying to expose the IMF assumptions ensconsed within. And even as the IMF, maybe maybe, shifts ideologically, we’re going to be stuck with SAP-style thinking in Fin Mins here for another decade or two. The “training” from the IFIs doesn’t get translated into nuanced debates among high-level thinkers, but stubborn dogma enforced down the line. This has to be most dangerous development of the last 15 years (and your most lamentable provocation!).

Soren Ambrose
Nairobi, Kenya

]]> By: Peter Gakunu http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/blog/2009/02/what-africa-needs-from-the-g20/comment-page-1/#comment-5 Peter Gakunu Tue, 03 Feb 2009 09:42:06 +0000 http://www.globaleconomicgovernance.org/blog/?p=193#comment-5 The need for action from the IMF and the World Bank is particularly necessary at a time when African countries would be starved of resources - bilateral, multilateral or even from the diaspora and the financial markets- will have no alternative but to revert to domestic financing. In a situation where many countries were graduating from IMF supported programs (PRGF), domestic financing could wreck havoc on their macroeconomic frameworks that would have devastating effects especially for the poor. Since the governance institutions have not taken proper root capacity to effectively manage the consequences of unsupervised domestic financing would be seriously limited. The need for action from the IMF and the World Bank is particularly necessary at a time when African countries would be starved of resources – bilateral, multilateral or even from the diaspora and the financial markets- will have no alternative but to revert to domestic financing. In a situation where many countries were graduating from IMF supported programs (PRGF), domestic financing could wreck havoc on their macroeconomic frameworks that would have devastating effects especially for the poor. Since the governance institutions have not taken proper root capacity to effectively manage the consequences of unsupervised domestic financing would be seriously limited.

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