Seville, Spain | ENTEBBENEWS.NET | President Yoweri Museveni has warned of drastic effects on the global economies from the persistent global armed and trade conflicts. He said the “unjustified wars” in different parts of the world were creating uncertainty for global trade and investment.
These include the Israel-Palestine conflict, Russia-Ukraine war, and now Iran; trade wars including skyrocketing tariffs and non-trade barriers; inward-looking economic and protectionist policies; regional military threats in Africa, and renewed scramble for natural resources including oil, gas, and minerals.
This was contained in his written statement delivered by Matia Kasaija, the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, at the ongoing 4th International Conference on Financing for Development taking place in Seville, Spain. “We should reform and preserve the multilateral frameworks which have sustained global peace since World War II, and promoted free trade under World Trade Organisation trade rules,” said the President.
Museveni says countries that are lagging economically, many of which are in Africa, cannot develop without sustainable peace and access to global markets. “This is the reason why in Africa we are prioritising strengthening regional markets and intra-Africa trade to be able to expand the markets for exports,” said Museveni.
He tasked multilateral financial institutions like the World Bank and the IMF to refocus on their original mandate of development and refrain from “being used” as tools for geopolitical objectives of some countries. “We are not looking for grants or donations, we are talking about mechanisms where Africa can benefit by adding value to its abundant resources, through accessing technologies, affordable financing, and access to markets of our manufactured products.”
The Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FFD4) is an intergovernmental negotiated outcome that lays the foundation for a renewed global framework for financing development.
Commitments include steps to close the 4 Trillion-Dollar financing gap for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and address the debt crises.
Others are to reform the rules of the system to make the international financial system fairer and more transparent, putting people’s needs at the center, and injecting new hope for people around the world.
“We are here to change course,” said United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, adding, “To repair and rev up the engine of development to accelerate investment at the scale and speed required, and to restore a measure of fairness and justice for all”.
According to him, the Sevilla Commitment document is a global promise to fix how the world supports countries as they climb the development ladder.
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