Adedapo Adesanya
By Adedapo Adesanya
President Bola Tinubu has called for equitable access to capital for developing countries, saying such will provide the much-needed resources for development.
Speaking at the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement at the weekend in Kampala, Uganda, the Nigerian leader, however, pointed out that the developing world is not looking for sympathy or begging, but fair and equal opportunity.
Chaired by Ugandan President, Mr Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, this year’s summit was attended by many presidents and heads of government.
The Non-Aligned Movement is the largest gathering of countries, second only to the United Nations General Assembly.
Mr Tinubu noted that the combined population of the 120 countries that make up the Non-Aligned Movement is over 4.4 billion or about 55 per cent of the world’s population, yet the total financial resources available to all these countries are much less than that of some countries.
The total budgetary resources for the 120 countries is less than $3.5 trillion, which is less than the budget of the United States alone. Whereas the aggregate public debt of less than $6.6 trillion, mostly at higher interest rates and shorter tenor, is about one-sixth of one or a few developed countries, he said.
These startling statistics, according to the Nigerian leader, are a piece of clear evidence that the Non-Aligned countries suffer from a lack of access to capital and resources for development.
“More often than not, public debt available to developing countries is far more expensive and not substantial enough to make an impact. Therefore, we wish to advocate a financing mechanism and equitable capital market access that can provide adequate financial resources to the Global South,” he said.
Represented by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, My Atiku Bagudu, President Tinubu also listed the challenges facing the world currently including climate change, conflict and wars, terrorism, and widening inequality.
“All these are happening as we are battling to come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. No one nation can tackle these multidimensional challenges,” he said, stressing that this calls for greater collaboration between and among member states as they struggle to achieve sustainable development goals.
According to him, the theme of the summit which is “Deepening Cooperation for Shared Global Affluence” bore relevance concerning the current trend of wars, proliferation of small arms and light weapons, threat of use of nuclear weapons and the dangerous polarization between developed countries, similar to the era of cold war.
“In this regard, we must recommit to the foundational principles of Non-Aligned Movement to better assure global peace and security,” he said.
