2023-10-05 18:24:50
This is the traditional curtain raiser. The inaugural speech delivered by Kristalina Georgieva at the Hôtel Ivoire in Abidjan, this October 5 marks the starting point of the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank, which will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, from October 9 to 15.
But, beyond this speech, the Managing Director of the IMF had a busy schedule in Abidjan. She was welcomed on the tarmac from Félix-Houphouët-Boigny international airport, on the evening of October 4, by the Ivorian vice-president Tiémoko Meyliet Koné.
Lunch with Alassane Ouattara
On October 5, she was received for lunch at the presidency by Alassane Ouattara. A meal which was also present Patrick Achithe Prime Minister, as well asAdama Coulibaly, the Minister of Economy and Finance. Alassane Ouattara, former director general of the IMF’s Africa department from 1984 to 1988, then deputy director general from 1994 to 1999, according to our information, still has “influence and ears within the institution.”
During the meal, the IMF program in the country was discussed. Indeed, a team led by Olaf Unteroberdoerster, the head of the IMF mission in Côte d’Ivoire, visited Abidjan from September 19 to October 2 to discuss progress made under the economic program, approved last May by the IMF for an amount of 3.5 billion dollars.
A first tranche of $500 million was released at the end of this visit. Still according to our information, the situation in the Sahel was also on the agenda of discussions between Kristalina Georgieva and Ivorian political leaders.
Opportunities for African economies
In the followingnoon, the Director General went to the headquarters of the African Development Bank. She was received by Akinwumi Adesina, the president of the pan-African institution. In particular, there was discussion of the opportunities available to African economies and how their organizations can continue to work together to “make this century the century of Africa”, in the words of Kristalina Georgieva.
The director of the IMF is due to fly to Marrakech on Friday morning, October 6, to take part in the Annual Meetings of the IMF and the Banque world.
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