The Minister of Economy and Finance, Romuald WADAGNI represented the Head of State, His Excellency Patrice TALON at the Summit on the financing of African economies which opened this Tuesday, May 18 in Paris (FRANCE). The idea for this summit germinated at the Élysée Palace in the fall of 2020, when the IMF estimated that Africa risked lacking funding for the management of the post-Covid period.

Indeed, as part of the reflections on the initiative for a moratorium on African debt, the Head of State, Mr. Patrice TALON, had seized several heads of States and financing institutions and offered to initiate discussions. for a more responsible, innovative and common approach by development partners on the issue of financing Africa’s economic development.
Continuing this reflection, French President Emmanuel MACRON set up three working groups which have been working since December 2020 to prepare for the Paris summit.

Alongside personalities such as Tidjane THIAM, Ousmane DIAGANA, Vice-President for West and Central Africa of the World Bank Group, Romuald WADAGNI was the only African Minister of Economy and Finance present in the second working group .
This working group was to reflect, among other things, on improving the attractiveness of African economies and strengthening the private sector.

Apart from this working group, the Minister of Finance Romuald WADAGNI also participated in the reflections of a working group of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) headed by Mrs. Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the UNECA. This group concluded its work with a meeting with the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Recovery of the French Republic, Bruno Le MAIRE, a few days before the summit.

According to Emmanuel MACRON upon his arrival at the Assizes, this “summit of urgency and ambition” aims to meet at least in part the “financing need of Africa by 2025, estimated at 285 billion dollars” .

Download the final declaration at the end of the summit here