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AfriCatalyst Centers Key Discussions on the Margins of the 2025 Spring Meetings of the World Bank and the IMF.
Washington, DC, 25th April 2025: AfriCatalyst partnered with various stakeholders to spotlight challenges facing African countries in key sectors such as development and climate finance, credit ratings and governance through a series of high-level events on the margins of the 2025 spring meetings of the World Bank and the IMF.
The events held from the 21st to the 23rd of April brought together policy makers, international financial institutions, development partners, economists and the private sector to discuss and recommend solutions to confront critical challenges affecting African countries.
Kicking off the events, AfriCatalyst, in partnership with UN-OHRLLS, UN-DESA, FERDI, Open Society Foundations and the Paris Pact for People and the Planet, co-hosted a roundtable discussion on the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI). The conversation explored how the MVI can strengthen existing methods for identifying financing needs and allocation, the practical steps and challenges to integrating into current institutional frameworks and the implications such integration could have on country-level allocations.
The Center for Global Development and AfriCatalyst co-hosted an event on how Africa should navigate the new development and climate finance landscape. The event featured a fireside chat and a panel discussion where conversations reflected on ways to reduce reliance on aid, secure sustainable climate finance and advance reforms that align global systems with African priorities.
“The first thing we need to do is to start by thinking through what the financial institutions on the continent can do by collaborating and drawing on the respective strengths to invest in adaptation and beyond”, Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi, President and CEO, African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET). “It’s really important right now to think about how to build a framework that will sustain us beyond the current climate”.
In collaboration with Reinventing Bretton Woods Committee, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung New York and the Stimson Center, AfriCatalyst co-hosted an event on the Crisis in Global Economic Governance. The discussion explored innovative thinking beyond conventional approaches and explored pragmatic pathways toward a more resilient, inclusive, and effective system of global economic governance.
To conclude the events, AfriCatalyst in partnership with the African Peer Review Mechanism(APRM), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), African Center for Economic Transformation(ACET) and the open Society Foundations (OSF) co-hosted a high-level event on Developing a Credit Ratings Ecosystem in Africa.
The discussion brought together rating agencies executives, economists and development partners and explored urgent reforms required in Africa’s credit rating framework.
With the African Credit Rating Agency(AFCRA) expected to shape the financial architecture into one that supports sustainable development and debt sustainability, Dr Misheck Mutize, Lead Credit Ratings Expert, APRM stated that, “the African Credit Rating Agency(AFCRA) is not being established to issue favourable ratings for African entities, but rather to contribute to a diversity of rating opinion that support more accurate assessments of African sovereigns, corporates, and sub-sovereigns”. “Our priority is to build a credible, independent and sustainable institution that plays a vital role in developing domestic debt markets and rebalancing Africa’s position within the evolving global financial architecture”.
Key messages included the need for: transparent and regular engagement between rating agencies, investors and African governments, stronger institutional narratives that reflect Africa’s reality, capacity building and collaboration, especially through the proposed African Credit Rating Agency, which aims to provide credible, contextual alternatives to global ratings.
“We must rethink how creditworthiness is defined and measured. At UNDP, we believe a development-centric approach is essential to supporting governments in strengthening institutions, improving data systems and engaging effectively Africa’s creditworthiness,” Ms. Ahunna Eziakonwa, UN Assistant Secretary-General, UNDP Assistant Administrator and Regional Director for Africa.
In his closing remarks, AfriCatalyst’s CEO, Daouda Sembene, stressed the urgent need for collaboration among African institutions “AfriCatalyst is proud to be at the heart of this critical dialogue, building on the foundation of our credit ratings initiative with UNDP. We are optimistic that through stronger collaboration between African institutions and global rating agencies, we can foster a more accurate, robust, and representative credit rating ecosystem, one that empowers African nations and promotes sustainable growth.”
Through such partnerships, AfriCatalyst reaffirms its commitment to advocating for development, financial reforms and economic resilience in Africa.
For Inquiries, please contact:
Bineta Pouye, Operations Manager, AfriCatalyst.
Email: [email protected]
Dakar, Senegal