Tag Archives: World Bank

Today, IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn addressed the global implications of the world financial crisis at a conference in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.  Strauss-Kahn predicted a severe global recession that would disproportionately affect the world’s poor.  In sub-Saharan Africa, the IMF predicted that economic growth will slow to 3 percent.  With the Africa’s population continuing to grow at a rate of approximately 2.4 percent, it would take 118 years for economic output to double at a growth rate of 3 percent.  Such slow growth is likely to unlikely to raise living standards and could cause the continent to fall farther behind in meeting IMF and UN poverty targets.  Strauss-Kahn warned today that the situation for Africa was quite bleak:

“Even though the crisis has been slow in reaching Africa’s shores, we all know it is coming and its impact will be severe.  We must ensure that the voice of the poor are heard. We must ensure that Africa is not left out.”

While he posits that the voice of the global south must be heard, only one country from sub-saharan Africa (South Africa) will be present at the G20 talks scheduled to begin April 2nd in London.  At the conference, wealthy, developed countries will convene to discuss solutions to the financial crisis, including ways to help undeveloped nations through the crisis.

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