Marueen Burke writes: \u00a0Governments must take action at the country level and the collective level to mobilize resources and partner with the private sector if they are to attain the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, panelists said at a seminar.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou really have to approach it in a comprehensive way,\u201d noted Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University. As such, he said, each country ought to have a national dialogue about its own development goals and the interaction between these different goals.<\/p>\n
For Magdalena Andersson, Sweden\u2019s Minister of Finance, revenue mobilization was seen as essential.<\/p>\n
Akinwumi Adenisa, the newly appointed President the African Development Bank (AfDB), concurred. \u201cAfrica needs roughly $100 billion for investment in infrastructure. But right now we have only about $50 billion,\u201d he observed. Multilateral development banks should be doing more to promote risk-sharing instruments that allow the private sector to lend significant amounts without shouldering excessive risk. \u201cRisk sharing is what permits the AfDB to partner with the private sector,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
While panelists agreed that private-public partnerships were a key factor in low-income countries\u2019 development, some also noted that governments did not have to rely solely on external funding sources. \u201cThere is a lot of potential revenue in the country that countries could tap,\u201d said IMF Deputy Managing Director Min Zhu, noting that the IMF has devised a new \u201crevenue gap analysis\u201d tool that helps countries understand where the gaps are in their revenue collection.<\/p>\n
There are ways of improving the tax efficiency by reducing tax exemptions and broadening the tax base, as Vietnam and Tanzania have done successfully.<\/p>\n
Realistically, though, you can’t tax very poor people. Giving potential entrepreneurs access to finance is critical to giving a \u201cleg up\u201d to people in low-income countries.<\/p>\n
Claver Gatete, Rwanda\u2019s Minister for Finance and Economic Planning, also zeroed in on the role of governments in ensuring that women are active participants in the economy.<\/p>\n
Beyond mobilizing revenue and facilitating the economic participation of women, there is still more to be done, said Tony Elumelu, a successful Nigerian entrepreneur. His country has benefitted from external resources by way of aid and by way of private flows, he said. While aid has helped address some of the continent\u2019s issues, it has not helped significantly alleviate poverty or create jobs.<\/p>\n
The answer, he said, is private investment\u2014and preferably partnerships between local investors and international ones.<\/p>\n
Zhu noted that the IMF is active in several ways. It has put more resources on the table by allowing low-income countries to borrow up to an additional fifty percent from the IMF\u2019s concessional facilities at an interest rate of zero percent. It is also intensifying its policy dialogue with member countries and strengthening its efforts to help increase their institutional capacity, particularly in the context of the sustainable development goals.<\/p>\n
As for the World Bank, Managing Director and Chief Financial Officer Bertrand Badr\u00e9 Badre explained:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cWe have to work together. We can create additional resources, we can share innovation, and we have to make things easier for investors.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Harm](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/IWF.jpg\")
<\/a>Harm Bengen \/ East Friesland
www.w-t-w.org\/en\/harm-bengen
www.harmbengen.de<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
From the International Monetary Fund: Countries need to make plans now for implementing the post-2015 agenda Increasing access to finance\u2014particularly for women\u2014will be vital Given collective nature of many issues, international cooperation is key Marueen Burke writes: \u00a0Governments must take … Continue reading