Fifty Years of Failure: The IMF, Debt and Austerity in Africa
ActionAid InternationalOct 06, 2023
The Facts
A month after experiencing a deadly earthquake that killed nearly 3K people and caused $11.7B in damages, Morocco on Monday began hosting a week-long meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank.
This is the first time in five decades that the world’s most powerful lenders are holding their annual meeting in Africa — purportedly a response to criticism that developing nations in the continent have been underrepresented in the two financial institutions.
The Spin
Establishment-critical narrative
Despite its statements and symbolic gestures, the IMF has spent 50 years failing Africa and other developing countries, while doing little to seek sustainable reforms. The IMF believes that its loans grant it the right to essentially control the economies of African nations and impose its neoliberal economic model. The IMF has put African economies into a cycle of debt and dependence — it must meaningfully change its policies instead of simply virtue signaling.
Pro-establishment narrative
The IMF and World Bank are deeply committed to Africa’s development and understand how important Africa's prosperity is to global prosperity. The two lenders have decided to hold their meeting in the continent to display how integral international cooperation is for the continent’s growth. The two have also committed to increasing support for the mounting challenges facing developing nations and are creating policies to reduce the global wealth gap and bring about sustainable solutions.