AU wants African as next IMF MD

By Okey Ndiribe
ABUJA — The African Union, AU, has made a case for an African to be appointed the next Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, IMF.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Department of Economic Affairs at the  AU headquarters in Ethiopia.
Citing the reason for its position, the AU statement said: “The  position  of IMF Managing Director has never been held by a non-European because of the tacit agreement that currently exists for a European to head the institution.”

The AU further observed that “selecting a non-European and particularly someone from the developing world would go a long way in increasing the  representation of  the Third World in the IMF.”

The statement further called for reforming the selection procedure for the Managing Director of the global financial body, adding that this is also crucial considering that developing countries are increasingly becoming major contributors to the institution, representing about 42 per cent of the contributions to the Fund, compared with the less than 30 per cent contributed by Europe and the United States.

According to AU, “appointing an IMF Managing Director from a developing country, and in this case from Africa, would bring with it new perspectives and new ways of handling the macroeconomic and fiscal problems of IMF member countries that take into consideration the interests of all countries, and thereby help to foster improved global sustainable and balanced growth and macro-economic stability.”

The African Union also  called on  member countries to ensure that candidates from developing countries, and particularly  Africa  be given fair and equal opportunity for consideration  for the position of IMF Managing Director.

According to the statement: “Europe can no longer maintain an absolute right to the position of IMF Managing Director. Should the tradition be done away with, one possible compromise in the package of change would be for the No. two  position to be given to a European.

The time is now to deliver on the IMF governance reform agenda relating to ensuring an open, transparent and merit based selection of  its Head.”

The AU also pointed out that : “Selecting a non-European would also better reflect the dynamic changes occurring in the global economy, with a gradual shift in global production and demand away from the industrialized economies to developing regions such as Africa, Asia and Latin America.”