African Development Bank stresses public investment, African economic development, at Think20 Inception Conference, Tokyo, Japan

Strengthening public investment management and increasing domestic revenue in Africa were major topics on the agenda of the Think20 (T20) Inception Conference attended by a senior leadership team of the African Development Bank Group.

Director General of the Bank’s Southern Africa Bureau Kapil, Kapoor presented policy briefs covering Fiscal and Debt Sustainability and the Compact with Africa at the conference, held 4-5 December 2018, in Tokyo, Japan. The conference is a precursor to the 2019 G20 meetings. Tadashi Yokoyama, Head of Asia External Representation Mamoru Endo, Principal External Relations and Communication Officer, also represented the Bank Group.

In his draft paper on “Fiscal and debt Sustainability,” Kapoor emphasized strengthening public investment management, increasing domestic revenue mobilization and domestic savings. A second paper on the Compact with Africa, summarized reforms implemented by Compact countries,  investment they have received and the need for greater engagement with the private sector and African experts and institutions.

“Achieving the SDGs requires all stakeholders to cooperate and share respective expertise and experiences. Japan would like to ask academia, including think tanks, for its precious insights to create society which leaves no-one behind, “Taro Kono, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, who addressed the Conference, stated.

Members of the Africa Task Force agreed broadly with the papers presented and provided input which will be further incorporated towards finalization of the documents.

Kapoor will serve as the co-chair of the Cooperation with Africa Task Force together with the JICA Research Institute. Cooperation with Africa is a broad agenda consisting of seven priority areas, namely: debt sustainability, Compact with Africa, industrial development and ICT, agricultural development, governance conditions and social effects, health, and tax challenges of digitization in Africa.

With more than 200 participants from global academia and think tanks, the T20 contributes to the G20 dialogue, by providing policy innovations for Japan’s 2019 G20 presidency. The T20 was initiated in 2012 by the Mexican presidency and is held annually.

Japan 2019 will present its final findings at the T20 Japan meeting in May 2019, prior to the G20 meeting scheduled for late June 2019 in Osaka, Japan.