VP calls for solid backing of SADC finance houses

LYDIA SHEKIGHENDA

VICE-PRESIDENT Ms Samia Suluhu Hassan delivers a keynote speech on behalf of President John Magufuli at the official opening of SADC Forum for Chief Executive Officers of development finance institutions, a regional network, meeting on a theme, “Towards Industrialisation for Sustainable and Inclusive Development -- Role of DFIs in SADC” held at JNICC in Dar es Salaam, yesterday. From left are: Forum Chair Brig-Gen (Rtd) Mabula Mashauri, Deputy Minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Ashatu Kijaji, Chair of the SADC DFI Network and Group Managing Director, Swaziland, Mr Dumisani Msibi and CEO SADC DFRC, Mr Stuart Kufeni. (Photo by Mohamed Mambo)

VICE-PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has called for governments within the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to support development financial institutions so that they could access resources and facilitate development.

The VP said the DFIs played an important role in mobilizing megafinancial resources and channel them into medium and long-term invest ment projects such as infrastructure, where most commercial banks cannot invest since they are only interested in short-term financial investments.

Ms Samia was speaking in Dar es Salaam yesterday at the opening of an annual Forum themed, “Towards Industrialisation for Sustainable and Inclusive Development – Role of DFIs in SADC”.

She forecast that through government support, the “long dark days of the DFIs can be a matter of history.” The international financial institutions had called for the dissolution and disbandment of the DFIs on grounds that they were misused, had themselves abused and politically influenced these institutions, Ms Hassan noted.

“If we as leaders set higher standards of performance, these institutions can regain and enhance their respect and bargaining power in the international financial system and further gain respect and confidence of international financiers and hence become eligible for financing and syndication deals,” she said.

She further observed that efforts by SADC governments to supplement initiatives of the DFIs by setting up a regional development Fund (RDF) would form the basis for establishment of a regional development bank (RDB) that would be hosted in any of the SADC countries to cater for inter-regional development projects across its member states.

Ms Samia, however, commended the DFI community within the SADC region for aligning itself to the developments and efforts it has been taking to identify its contribution to the regional and global strategy.