10th African Fiscal Forum

Fiscal Policies and Reforms for the Post-pandemic Era

March 10-11, 2022

The European Commission (EC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will host the Tenth African Fiscal Forum on March 10-12, 2022. The virtual forum will discuss wide-ranging fiscal reforms needed to preserve the sustainability of public finances and enhance the resilience of African economies in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as how to address the policy constraints that countries are likely to face in the coming years. 

Participants will include:

  • African ministers and policymakers
  • bilateral partners and multilateral institutions
  • representatives of civil society

The opening roundtable discussion on Day 1 of the Forum (March 10) will be livestreamed on this webpage in English and French. Additional sessions are by invitation only (view full agenda).

Thursday, March 10
14:00–14:10 (Central European Time) Welcoming Remarks

  • Vitor Gaspar, Director of the Fiscal Affairs Department, IMF

  • Koen Doens, Director General of the Directorate General for International Partnerships, EC
14:10–15:25 (Central European Time)

ROUNDTABLE: The Political Economy of Fiscal Reforms     

The pandemic had a significant negative impact on the public finances of sub-Saharan African countries, which will need to carry out difficult and lengthy fiscal reforms to enhance the resilience of their economies and bring public finances back on a sustainable path. The implementation of such reforms, both on the revenue as well as the expenditure side, is likely to meet political economy obstacles, and their success will not simply depend on designing good policies, but upon managing their implementation as well as responding effectively to stakeholder concerns. In this context, the round table will: (i) explore the nature of the policy constraints that countries are likely to face in the coming years; (ii) draw lessons from international experience to identify politically and socially acceptable solutions; and (iii) discuss how the interventions of donors and IFIs could better take into account political economy risks.

Moderator: Abebe Aemro Selassie, Director of the African Department, IMF

Panelists:

  • Bo Li, Deputy Managing Director, IMF
  • Koen Doens, Director General of the Directorate General for International Partnerships, EC
  • Ahmat Jidoud, Minister of Finance, Niger 
  • Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Nigeria     
  • Chenai Mukumba, Policy Research and Advocacy Manager, Tax Justice Network Africa