Rwandan President Paul Kagame shakes hands with US President Donald
Trump during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic
Forum on January 26, 2018 in Davos, eastern Switzerland. PHOTO | AFP
The African agenda at this year’s World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland, appears fragmented with countries going solo as they seek
investment deals and opportunities.
Only the African
Development Bank (AfDB), the continent’s banker, went to the conference
to shop for investors who would fund opportunities across the continent.
“We
are here sharing the investment opportunities that are available on the
continent. We have launched a $500 million fund to support businesses
in Africa that are producing power in a decentralised way and we hope we
will have international corporations take interest in such ideas,” AfDB
president Akiwumi Adesina said.
IMF’s support for Somalia
For
the first time in its history, Somalia sent its Prime Minister Hassan
Ali Khaire, who managed to secure audience with IMF chief Christine
Lagarde and held discussions over the country’s push for debt relief. Mr
Khaire also met with his Norwegian counterpart and discussed increasing
aid to Somalia.
‘‘The underlying economic conditions
in Somalia remain difficult, but the authorities are making strong
efforts to rebuild their country. Somalia’s debt relief is a priority
for the IMF.
‘‘The discussion also touched on the IMF’s support for Somalia.
Somalia is among the largest recipients of IMF technical assistance,”
IMF said in a statement released after the meeting on the sideline of
the Davos meeting.
Zimbabwe's new dawn
For
countries such as Zimbabwe, this year’s Davos meeting was a new dawn,
introducing President Emmerson Mnangagwa, following the ouster of Robert
Mugabe, who had been shunned by the West.
The new
Zimbabwean leader attended the Davos summit, a first by a Zimbabwean
president, to market the country and lure potential investors. He also
met Ms Lagarde and for the first time in almost two decades had
discussions on a possible IMF bailout for his country.
“This
was an opportunity to share views on ways to address the severe
economic challenges that Zimbabwe is facing, and how the IMF can help. I
welcome President Mnangagwa’s commitment to stabilising the Zimbabwean
economy and working towards normalising the country’s engagement with
the international community,” Ms Lagarde posted on Twitter after the
meeting.
Bilateral relations
The
meeting also offered the incoming African Union chairman and Rwandan
president Paul Kagame an opportunity for a one on one talk with US
President Donald Trump, coming at a time the continent says it is still
offended by the US president’s recent negative reference about
immigrants.
On Friday, the two held discussions on bilateral relations and ongoing reforms at the AU.
“We
had a good discussion on those two levels, bilateral relations between
Rwanda and the US. Rwanda has benefited tremendously from the support of
the US in many areas,” he said, citing support in peacekeeping
operations, trade investments and tourism.
President
Kagame said he hoped the US would support the reforms which are aimed at
making the body financially independent and effective.
Diplomatic relations
The
Rwandan leader also met South African Deputy President and African
National Congress leader Cyril Ramaphosa in what appears to be a move to
restore diplomatic relations between Rwanda and South Africa.
The
two countries have been attempting to restore diplomatic ties which
deteriorated in 2014, resulting in both expelling each other’s
diplomats.
South Africa accused Rwandan diplomats of
co-ordinating attacks on Rwandan exiles while Kigali accused Pretoria of
protecting Rwandan fugitives. Rwandans are yet to resume getting visas
to South Africa.
Tax evasion
Countries
like Nigeria and Angola, which have in the recent years undergone
recession, sent in both government and business delegations as they seek
to jump start their economies, whose growth has dipped.
In
terms of agenda, tax evasion, which affects many African countries
featured yet again, with Oxfam’s chief executive Winnie Byanyima calling
for a shift towards public transparency around corporate tax affairs.
“We
are in a system where greed is good. Companies are encouraged to
maximise for their shareholders and that is why they avoid tax and slash
wages.
We should now shift to have a global agreement
on tax co-operation to be forged at the UN given that we’ve seen
overseas agreements between wealthy countries do now work in the
interest of developing economies,” Ms Byanyima said.
Migration
Migration,
which has featured in the global arena for the past two years, has also
been a subject of discussion at the summit with leaders calling for a
rethink on how to address the source countries, mostly African
countries.
The panelists discussed how immigrants are used as scapegoats, terming it one of the problems of short-term political thinking.
At
the meeting, technological innovation emerged as the main driver in the
immigration question, since it was displacing more jobs than migrants.
“Europe
is getting older and they’re not producing children. Africa by 2050
will double the population. Immigrants have no lawyers, no flags, no
special interests, no ambassadors… The easiest way to win an election is
to go after them,” Hikmet Ersek, the president at the Western Union
Company said.
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