Recent Posts
Quantitative Tightening and Capital Flows to Emerging Markets
June 24, 2022In its May 15th meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee of the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) lifted its benchmark policy rate by 0.75% to 1.50%–1.75%, the biggest increase since 1994. The central bank also signaled an additional increase of 0.75% ahead. FOMC members also raised the median projection for the Fed funds rate to a range between 3.25% and 3.50% next year. In addition to hikes in basic interest rates, liquidity conditions in the US economy will also be affected by the shrinking of the Fed's balance sheet starting this [...]
Replenishing Africa’s Development Fund: A Time for Ambition
May 19, 2022The stakes are high for the African Development Fund (AfDF) as it kicks off its replenishment fundraising exercise this spring. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are still grappling with the health and economic fallout of the COVID-19 crisis, with over 30 million of their citizens pushed into poverty since the onset of pandemic. According to the IMF, an extra $425 billion in SSA government spending will be needed over 2021-2025 to make up for the lost ground in the fight against poverty. African countries are also strongly impacted by the [...]
Message to Donors: The African Development Fund Replenishment Needs Ambition
April 19, 2022The stakes are high for this year’s African Development Fund (AfDF) replenishment. The AfDF, the arm of the African Development Bank that targets the region’s poorest countries, is Africa’s only dedicated grant and concessional financing fund. Its mission is deeply relevant with the African continent facing a frightening confluence of severe crises including the economic fallout from COVID, an escalating food crisis, the damage to global growth of the war in Ukraine, the effects of rising global interest rates and inflation, and rapidly accelerating climate change that disproportionately threatens countries [...]