Six African Leaders Confront IMF Director, Insist that Bretton Woods Institutions Have to Change

Macky Sall (L), the President of Senegal, Kristalina Georgieva (C), the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, and Amina J. Mohammed (R), the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, during a conference co-organized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on sustainable development and debt at the Abdou Diouf de Diamniadio conference centre in Diamniadio, on December 2, 2019. SEYLLOU / AFP

Dr. Kaberuka’s comments on Sunday in Kigali were similar to sentiments expressed in a somewhat confrontational forum that took a few days earlier in Dakar. At a conference on debt sustainability organized by the International Monetary Fund, six African leaders led by Senegalese President Macky Sall directly challenged IMF Director Kristalina Georgieva on what they contend are unreasonable limits on budget deficits and public debt.

One after another, leaders from Niger, Benin, Togo, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal confronted the IMF director using uncharacteristically blunt language. 

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by Eric Olander

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