TheCable

Kemi Adeosun, minister of finance, called for sustainable and inclusive growth for Africa at a high level G20 finance ministers seminar held in Paris, France capital, on Thursday.

The ministers met to discuss current challenges to the international financial architecture and ways of combating macroeconomic volatility.

The high level seminar also assessed volatility in capital flows and their impact on global economic conditions.

Speaking at the opening plenary session, Adeosun acknowledged the progress that has been made in the international financial architecture since the 2008 global financial crisis.

She noted that the first line of defence is sound macroeconomic policies, which Africa in general and Nigeria specifically, is trying to tackle with a series of fiscal housekeeping initiatives.

Adeosun said there had been excessive focus on GDP as a measure of economic progress, which often concealed vulnerabilities, particularly inequalities.

She called for a more holistic measure of economic growth, highlighting the risks associated with international capital flows.

The minister said there was need for African economies to be insulated from the disruptive effects of volatile short term portfolio flows.

“Africa can build the necessary resilience, but there must be more careful management of capital flows and a move towards long term and sustainable growth,” she said.

Adeosun said an essential component of more careful management of capital flows was to build better economic mapping and surveillance to manage risks and spill-overs, which she said should be a priority for G20 finance ministers.

She called for more understanding and flexibility for Africa to grow and protect key markets, as developed countries had done while at Africa’s current stage of development.

Adeosun highlighted the need for long term partnerships and foreign direct investment into African economies to deliver the necessary investment, particularly in infrastructure, to unlock sustainable growth.

The meeting was called at the request of China, which is chairing the G20 in 2016, and aims to make reform of the world’s financial architecture a top priority.

Those in attendance were Christine Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF); François Villeroy de Galhau, governor of the Banque de France; Valdis Dombrovkis, vice-president of the European Commission; and Wolfgang Schauble, minister of finance, Germany.

Others are Michel Sapin, minister of finance and public accounts, France; Wolfgang Schäuble, minister of Finance, germany; George Osborne,  chancellor of the Exchequer, United Kingdom; Pietro Carlo Padoan, minister of economy.