COVID-19: Support For Africa – AU Lists Okonjo-Iweala, 3 Others As Special Envoys

BY EDMOND ODOK – Determined to deploy the best hands in mobilizing global financial support for the continent’s efforts at addressing economic challenges confronting African countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the African Union (AU) has listed Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as one of its four Special Envoys for the job.

Named alongside Okonjo-Iweala for the task ahead are big players in Africa and global financial space, Dr Donald Kaberuka; Mr Tidjane Thiam and Mr Trevor Manuel.

The appointment announced by Chairman of the African Union (AU) and President of South Africa, Cyril Ramaphosa, is coming a few days after Okonjo-Iweala aligned with former President Olusegun Obasanjo, and other world leaders in seeking $44 billion as debt relief for the continent to tackle the socio-economic effects of the rampaging coronavirus.

A statement on Sunday by the AU Chairman said; “The Special Envoys will be tasked with soliciting rapid and concrete support as pledged by the G20, the European Union and other international financial institutions.”

According to President Ramaphosa; “In the light of the devastating socio-economic and political impact of the pandemic on African countries these institutions need to support African economies that are facing serious economic challenges with a comprehensive stimulus package for Africa, including deferred debt and interest payments.

“The impact of the coronavirus pandemic has been global in both scale and reach, and this necessitates coordinated international action to capacitate all countries to respond effectively, but most particularly developing countries that continue to shoulder a historical burden of poverty, inequality and underdevelopment.”

The statement further quoted Ramaphosa as saying that; “The sentiment expressed in two recent letters written to the G20 by a group of world leaders and a team of esteemed economists underscore the importance of bolstering health systems in poorer countries; this can only be done with the support of the international community.”

Giving further details on the assignment and credentials of the Special Envoys, the statement said; “Dr Okonjo-Iweala is an internationally respected economist and development expert and served two terms as Minister of Finance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. She has also served as Managing Director of the World Bank.

“Dr Kaberuka is an economist and former President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank (AfDB). He is the former Finance Minister of Rwanda and in 2016 was appointed as a Special Envoy of the African Union on sustain-able financing for the AU and funding for Peace in Africa.

“Mr Manuel was the longest-serving Minister of Finance in the Republic of South Africa and formerly headed the country’s National Planning Commission. In 2018 he was appointed as an Investment Envoy by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to engage domestic and international investors as part of the country’s national investment drive.

“Mr Thiam is a banker and businessman. He is the former Chief Executive Officer of Credit Suisse and also served as Chief Financial Officer and CEO of Prudential. He also has a background in management consulting and worked for McKinsey and Company.”

Consequently, the statement explained AU’s conviction that “the appointment of the special envoys would expedite the process of securing economic support to enable countries on the continent to respond swiftly to this grave public health emergency.”

Additionally, President Ramaphosa acknowledged that the envoys are bringing with them a wealth of experience to handle the task, noting also that they “enjoyed longstanding relationships in the international financial community.”

He said; “The African Union is immensely encouraged by the support that has been extended by the international community thus far. It is an affirmation that as nations of the world, we are all in this together.

“We must now focus on efforts to marshal every resource at our disposal to ensure that this pandemic is contained, and does not result in the collapse of already ailing economies and financial systems on the continent.”

Interestingly, this continental assignment for Okonjo-Iweala, who held sway as Nigeria’s Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister of the Economy during President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, comes less than 48 hours after being named among the external advisers for the International Monetary Fund (IMF). – With agency reports