The World Bank Group1 boss congratulated Minister Keita on the country’s achievements in winning more support from the Bank.
He also underscored the various interventions and reforms that the Bank wishes to undertake to be more responsive to global crisis like the war in Ukraine and climate change disasters and their disruption to economies.
Dr. Ngaruko also spoke about mainstreaming Global Public Goods (GpG) into the global agenda to enhance sustainability and resilience, adding that the challenges to tackling the myriad of issues required more resources.
Nevertheless, he regarded the general implementation of World Bank-related projects and activities as good but still also requires improvement.
Hon. Seedy Keita, Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs congratulated Dr. Ngaruko on his appointment as executive director, heading one of 22 African countries.
Minister Keita outlined challenges the country faces due to the Ukraine crisis and thanked the Bank for stepping in to provide support in different areas amounting to $50 million different from the ongoing projects.
He added that the Bank should consider supporting the infrastructural development of the country, reiterating that the development agenda of the government should not be left in the hands of development partners alone.
In a frank expression, Mr. Keita delved more into the theoretical aspects of development quoting the struggles and sacrifices of the Asian Tigers (China, Singapore, Malaysia, etc.) and what they endured to lift millions of people out of poverty within a span of three decades.
The minister added that development is a continuous process and as such, the narratives have to change.
Talking about the public good agenda, he urged the Bank to listen to the voices of member countries particularly the developing ones and disenfranchise information for the benefit of member states.
In his quest to see rapid development for the country, Minister Keita appealed to the Bank to listen to ‘us’ to experiment with ‘our’ development agenda (the opportunities to try new things) just as the Asian Tigers did.
In a deeply concerned tone, Hon. Keita expressed the difficulties developing countries faced, saying “few countries have emerged from being a third world country to middle income through the Bretton Woods institutions”.
Therefore, he urged these institutions to open up the space for developing countries to explore their development agenda without being limitations or conditions. The meeting ended with both parties convinced that something fruitful will come out of the frank discussions.
