The African Development Bank (AfDB) has appealed to International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank to work out a financial support system for Nigeria and other west African countries which economies were threatened by insecurity.
The AfDB President, Dr Akinwumi Adesina made the appeal while unveiling the African Economic Outlook 2020 in Abidjan on Thursday.
Adesina explained that such financial support system was necessary to help address these exogenous security shocks, which if left unaddressed, would have broader spill over effects that would lower growth and investment in the region.
“We must also address issues of insecurity. Growth in West Africa, which improved as Nigeria’s economy recovered from recession, has been dampened by the rising insecurity challenges.
“In the Sahel. Several countries in West Africa, such as Niger, Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad are spending a very high share of their budgets on security.
“I wish to commend the ECOWAS Heads of State and Governments for their bold decision to set up a fund to help address these insecurity issues in the sub-region” he said.
Adesina noted that African countries could not continue to reel from one emergency to another.
According to him, AfDB has used its Africa Disaster Risk Insurance Facility to pay for insurance premiums for countries facing extreme weather events that have helped to provide 36 million dollars in payout to countries.
He added that It was time now for the international community to help scale up this facility to reach many more countries.
