The Changing IMF - Taking Our Place

IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Khan said in Kenya that the IMF as a changing institution is imagining a new AFRICA-IMF partnership. Khan was reinforcing the tone of the IMF-Africa meeting in Tanzania last year. As to what the new partnership looks like remains to be fully articulated. But I, like many, welcome the streamlining of fund-conditionality as well increased the policy space or country-ownership of development policy that the IMF is now promoting. To that end, I would like to encourage the Zimbabwe government to take advantage of this opportunity and strongly advocate for its Midterm Economic Plan launched late last year to the international community.

As a student of international economics and development, the changing IMF presents a watershed event in global political economy. Instead of the 1980s/90s fiscal straight-jacket that the IMF pushed on struggling economies, the increased policy space now offered presents a strong platform for greater and meaningful international cooperation. It is encouraging to see that countries like Brazil, India, and China are now lenders to the IMF. The process of democratizing the fund has just begun, and it would be even more inclusive if there were at least one such African country, which is a net donor to the fund. We can be that country, but we first must get our house in order.