Sh350b lost to gender inequality in Africa annually

Sub Saharan Africa is haemorrhaging $95m (about sh350b) annually due to gender inequality, a high-level panel at the inaugural Finance in Common Summit has revealed. Panellists said that women are the engines of today's world economy and that there is an urgent need to integrate the gender dimension in development projects to benefit women.

"If women can participate in the continent's economic growth and transform their livelihoods, Africa's economies will be transformed. With equal access and participation, women can be powerful drivers of recovery as we strive to build back better economies and societies," Vanessa Moungar the African Development Bank's Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society said. 

She was speaking under the theme "Development Banks as Actors for Change towards Gender Equality." Moungar joined high-level representatives from global financial institutions, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and UN Women in signing a joint declaration on gender equality to strengthen their commitment at all levels.

The declaration was one highlight of a Finance in Common summit panel, hosted virtually by Agence Française de Développement (AFD) during the Paris Peace Forum on 12th November.

Panel organizers said gender inequality costs sub-Saharan Africa $95 million each year. Director Moungar and other panellists addressed the critical role and impact of public-private development banks in achieving gender equality for inclusive economic growth.

Meral Murathan, Executive Vice President of the Turkey-based investment and development bank TSKB, said her organization is mainstreaming gender approach to increase impact at the grassroots level. 

"Gender equality is critical to strengthening our bank's implementation of financial and non-financial operations. We believe development bank actors hold the key to drive the gender equality and equity agenda," she said.

The meeting recognized that COVID-19 pandemic's impact on women had widened gender inequality around the world. Some noted that women must be represented in decision-making to accelerate gender equality and implement innovative and sustainable responses to environmental challenges.

SDGs have $2.5 trillion annual financing gap

Earlier on, the first global summit of public development banks showcased a collective resolve to accelerate efforts to achieve the UN's sustainable development goals (SDGs), including addressing fragility.

The Finance In Common summit, which forms part of the 2020 Paris Peace Forum, rallied together some 450 public development banks to build a new coalition to better face the COVID-19 crisis by upscaling SDGs financing.

The summit was convened by Agence Francaise de développement, in partnership with the African Development Bank, under the high patronage of French President Emmanuel Macron, with the participation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"By convening today and bringing to life this coalition, which is unprecedented, besides its diversity, and its liaising role with all financial players, you remind us that it's possible to build common, consistent and joint responses to major global challenges," Macron said.

He commended public development banks for playing a lead role in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on livelihoods.

Addressing the plenary session, Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group, called on public development banks to join forces with the private sector to fill the $2.5 trillion yearly financing gap needed to achieve the SDGs by 2030.

"Nothing can dampen our collective resolve to provide better opportunities for all, to create hope for millions of youth, to end extreme poverty and to provide a better, safer and healthier future for all," declared Adesina, co-chair of the session.

He also cited various interventions by the Bank, including a $10b COVID-19 Response Facility and a $3b COVID-19 social bond, noting that it had helped to save livelihoods.

To advance Africa's recovery, the African Development Bank's priority for the post-COVID-19 era is to work with multilateral banks, public investment institutions and commercial creditors to equip the continent with critical resources to withstand any potential exogenous shocks.

"Together, let's do finance in common, let's have a financing coalition, financing complementarity and financing consolidation," Adesina said.

Remy Rioux, head of Agence Francaise de développement, said the summit had showcased the passion of development banks to attain inclusive growth and the SDGs.

"We want to do more; we want to do better, we want to do it together with the private sector; with civil society, and with local authorities, to unleash the full potential of the regions (we serve)," he said.

Several global leaders and heads of state addressed the summit virtually. They included Senegalese President Macky Sall, President of Costa Rica Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former Prime Minister of Latvia, Valdis Dombrovskis, and Alok Sharma, former British Minister of State.

There were also solidarity messages from other multilateral finance institutions, including the International Monetary Fund, recognizing the crucial role of public development banks.

"The road to recovery is going to be steep and we would need massive investments in human and fiscal capital. The quality of these investments will determine our future," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said, adding that public development banks have a major role to play to help the economic recovery and also to overcome the vulnerabilities due to low productivity, low growth, high inequality and a looming climate crisis.