Speaking at the International
Monetary (IMF) and the UN working together conversation on Tuesday, the former
minister of environment in Nigeria, expressed her worry on the rising level of
debt in Nigeria and the rest of Africa.
She said the UN and IMF must have
better conversations on the demands of a growing economy, seeking ways to make
growth better and inclusive.
“Public resources are always
going to be important, and so is ODA and the private sector. But I think we
still haven’t yet got quite the solution and I hope that the work that we do
together will open up that space to think more on how to leverage that,” she
said.
“As I was coming up from New
York, some of the concerns that came up from the meeting we had in China just
recently and reports that we have; the debt issues are really big, I mean,
having experienced what it was for Ngozi (Okonjo-Iweala) to get debt relief.
“It took her a few years to
convince people, and we are now back again in my country, with a level of debt
that is worrying, but its happening all over. Africa, is that the way we want
to go?
“I think we really need to sit
down and have a better conversation about all the asks of a growing economy;
that needs to be inclusive, it needs to succeed, because stability is needed
more than ever today, across our countries and where we are working.”
In the conversation with
Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the IMF, Mohammed had agreed with
Lagarde that Okonjo-Iweala was very influential in the debt relief Nigeria
secured in 2006.
Before 2005, Nigeria had an
external debt stock of $36 billion, which had been carried over from the
military years, dating back to 1985.
In October 2005, with
Okonjo-Iweala as finance minister, Nigeria and the Paris Club announced a final
agreement for debt relief worth $18 billion and an overall reduction of
Nigeria’s external debt stock by $30 billion.
The deal was completed on April
21, 2006, when Nigeria made its final payment and its books were cleared of any
Paris Club debt, bringing Nigeria’s external debt profile to just $3 billion
while domestic debt was only about N1 trillion.
As at June 30, 2018, Nigeria’s
total debt profile, according to the Debt Management Office (DMO) had risen to
$73.21 billion or N22.38 trillion.
AMINA MOHAMMED AS THE ‘DUSTBIN LADY’
The mother of six also spoke
about every of the 17 goals that make up the SDGs as her children, saying all
were equally important for the future of the world.
She added that when she was
appointed minister of environment in Nigeria, she was seen as the dustbin lady,
because the people did not see the real value of her office.
“I have to tell you, when I went
back to Nigeria as minister of environment, my state was saying, it was
environment they gave you? that is the dustbin lady. They did not even get that
environment was broader than just waste disposal,” she told Lagarde and a room
full of development experts.
She said climate change is
important, so is gender parity and inclusion for youths.
Mohammed stated that “the average
age of entry into the United Nations is 45”, adding that the UN is working hard
to change this, and include young people in its working process.
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