Recent Posts
Debt Dynamics and Financial Stability in Africa
June 6, 2023African countries were severely hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, which quickly drove the continent into its worst recession in fifty years. According to the 2022 African Development Bank African Economic Outlook (AEO), real GDP declined by -1.5% in 2020 compared to growth of 3.3% in 2019. Africa has recovered quickly from the recession, but this has not translated into favorable debt prospects for many countries. To make a challenging situation even worse, the Russia/Ukraine crisis has cast further doubt on prospects for debt sustainability in Africa. The international community has [...]
Multilateral development bank reform in a climate-changed world: A panel discussion with ADB President Masatsugu Asakawa
June 20, 2023 EST 6:00pm GMT +01The Covid-19 pandemic was a stark reminder that global challenges need globally coordinated solutions. Meanwhile, pressure to contain the increase in global temperatures has escalated. Multilateral development banks (MDBs) are – in principle – well-placed to address global or regional challenges. They are major contributors to the international climate finance commitment, and have taken a number of steps to coordinate national development and international climate goals. But MDBs need to evolve to deal with the challenges of the 21st century – challenges that are even more demanding and complex than the ones these [...]
Testimony on International Financial Institutions in an Era of Great Power Competition
May 25, 2023On May 25, 2023, CGD Distinguished Non-Resident Fellow Daouda Sembene appeared before the Security, Illicit Finance, and International Financial Institutions Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee at a hearing titled “International Financial Institutions in an Era of Great Power Competition.”
A Larger World Bank Group for a More Integrated Sustainable Development Agenda: Constraints and the Way Out
May 23, 2023Background Memo: Prepared for Council of Councils Annual Conference, May 7–9, 2023, Council on Foreign Relations, New York, NY The 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development called on multilateral development banks (MDBs) to undergo a paradigm shift to play a critical role in mobilizing the private sector for global development. In this context, the World Bank achieved a historic capital increase in 2018 for its International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), which serves middle-income countries, and its International Finance Corporation (IFC), which serves the private sector. The World Bank [...]