African Parliaments shun external funding
Call for capacity building of local entities Demand cancellation of African debt
Heads of African Parliaments are worried by the unnecessary and unhealthy reliance on external financial institutions and donors by African countries for financing projects and programmes.
The leaders stated during the Conference of Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments ( CoSAP) that there is a need for locally accessible financing and capacity building of local and indigenous entities.
The conference also observed that in some countries, the legislature has increasingly been seen as a lesser arm of government subservient to the Executive. This, according to the conference has affected the legislature’s ability to carry out its oversight activities.
It is said to have also led to a lack of synergy, collaboration, and information sharing between the Legislative and Executive arms of government in budget planning, development and implementation.
The speakers contended that this needs to be addressed for good governance, transparency and sustainable peace and development in countries.
“The COVID- 19 pandemic has revealed the vulnerability of African countries to shocks and external factors that have threatened their financial stability, health system functionality, infrastructure development, and created governance failures.
“It is noted that Africa currently lacks the productive capacity to meet its food demands and is dependent on imports for major agricultural commodities.
“This exposes the continent to global shocks, as evidenced by the recent Russia- Ukraine conflict and its effect on Africa’s food security.
A continent that cannot feed itself cannot lead itself. For Africa to lead in the 21st century, first it must learn to cater to its own needs, and legislative interventions should foster this.”
The conference also expressed concern over Africa’s rising debt. According to the Parliament Speakers, the average debt- to- GDP ratio on the continent is extremely high and still rising. It was indicated that Revenue- to- GDP ratio is on the decline, impacting revenue- todebt ratio.
Following the impact of COVID- 19 on government revenues, most African countries lack sufficient liquidity to service debts and are therefore at high risk of debt distress and tackling this must be prioritised by African Speakers and Heads of Parliament.
Based on these observations, the Speakers and Heads of African Parliaments recommended that African countries should institutionalise mandatory regular publication of public debt reports.
“This should also be legislated requiring approval from legislature on any borrowing, as well as limits and properly documented plans for borrowing tied to specific projects and programmes.
“African parliamentary leadership must ensure proper oversight to proactively reduce Africa’s debt profile. Mitigate aggravation of food insecurity: African parliamentary leadership should ensure enhanced agricultural productivity and building of internal capacity for food production to eliminate Africa’s import dependency. Therefore, legislation is required to enhance farmers’ access to inputs and credit.”
The conference recommended for support expansion of social protection and safety nets to achieve equitable growth. It said there is a need to develop mechanisms to increase coverage and scope of social protection to aid citizens who live in poverty, especially those affected by the recent pandemic.
“Legislative interventions are needed to ensure that across our continent, we cater to the needs of the poorest and weakest. This should also include the provision of stimulus packages to enable MSMEs recover from adverse effects of economic shocks.
“Build a resilient health defense system for the next pandemic by developing quality health care and pharmaceutical industries and infrastructure for domestic production of health products. Parliaments must legislate to foster advancement of healthcare technology through proper budgetary allocation.
Legislation needs to be put in place to strengthen African parliaments for effective oversight responsibilities. Thus, parliamentary exchange programs must be facilitated across the continent to foster shared learning,” recommended the conference.
The Speakers recommended for acceleration of regional integration for post- pandemic recovery and demand for debt cancellation. They have argued that debt cancellation from international financial institutions is required to enable African countries to invest more revenue towards social protection programs and CoSAP should press for this as a collective entity.