President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, on Thursday
vowed that the organisation will not allow famine and hunger kill Nigerians in
the North-East region.
He assured that World Bank was deploying tools and financial
support required to respond to the famine plaguing the region and some other
countries across the globe.
Jim Yong Kim said this in his opening remarks at the ongoing
World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) spring meetings in Washington DC.
The devastation by Boko Haram has left nearly five million
people in the North-East region desperately hungry and risk starving to death,
according to figures from the United Nations.
UN also describes the current wave of famine as the worst in
70 years.
Jim Yong Kim lamented that “the world was caught unprepared”
by the situation Nigeria and some other countries.
He said: “Too often, we forget about crises as soon as they
abate – leading to a cycle of panic and neglect. We’re already working with the
affected countries and partners to respond to the famine – and we will use
every tool we have, financial and advisory, to prevent famine in the future.
“This won’t be easy. It will require agreement across the
entire international development finance system – multilaterals and bilaterals
– to move the global development architecture in this direction,” Kim said.
The World Bank boss added that “We are encouraged to see
stronger economic prospects after years of disappointing global growth. There
are still many downside risks, however, and countries that have the fiscal
space need to continue with structural reforms. This is vital to accelerating
the sustainable and inclusive economic growth needed to end extreme poverty by
2030.
“We’re meeting at a time when we face several overlapping
crises, both natural and man-made, all of which add urgency to our mission. We
have to find new and innovative ways to reach the poor, and make the world more
secure and stable. Last week at the London School of Economics, I outlined how
we’re working to change our approach.
“We have to start by asking whether the private sector can
finance a project. If the conditions aren’t right, we will work with our
partners to de-risk that project or, if needed, de-risk entire countries or
sectors. Here’s the good news: There’s never been a better time to find those
win-win solutions.
“There are trillions of dollars sitting on the sidelines,
earning little interest, and investors are looking for better returns. That
capital should be mobilised to help us meet the exploding aspirations of people
all over the world. And with the crises we face, our task is much more urgent
than we ever thought.”
Kim said one of the things that the Bank found was that
foreign direct investment often had much higher impact, much stronger impact on
improving institutions and government than aid to low income and
under-developed countries.
“This is why we’re trying to bring together the financing we
provide to governments and also the financing that comes from the private
sector to create better institutions, more investment, more jobs, more economic
growth in a much more synergistic way”, he said.
In her address, Managing Director of the IMF, Christine
Lagarde urged Nigeria and other low income countries to step up research and
development, innovation, revisit housing policies in their countries in order
to drive sustainable growth.
“Stronger cooperation across counties would help reduce
external imbalances, clamp down on excessive tax evasion and avoidance and
would help deliver the Sustainable Development Goals so that the low income
countries can also reap the benefits of improved productivity,” Lagarde added.
By Wale Odunsi
