By Boitumelo Mosako: Chief Executive Officer of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA)
The Finance in Common Summit (FiCS) 2025, to be held in Cape Town from 26 to 28 February 2025, represents a pivotal moment to reimagine the global financial architecture and catalyse infrastructure development across Africa, Asia, and other emerging regions. The summit is a call to action for ensuring inclusivity and leaving no one behind as global institutions reform to meet the needs of developing economies.
Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Public Development Banks (PDBs), and Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) attending the summit are poised to advocate for transformative reforms to the Global Financial Architecture (GFA). These reforms aim to make international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, and World Trade Organization (WTO) more inclusive and responsive to the challenges facing developing nations.
Emerging economies face a dual burden of disproportionate infrastructure deficits and heightened vulnerability to climate change. Despite representing over 1.4 billion people and accounting for more than 60% of the world's extremely poor, Africa received just 5.2% of the $650 billion Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) allocation in August 2021. This disparity underscores systemic inequities in resource distribution, perpetuating cycles of poverty, debt, and underdevelopment.
The African Development Bank (AfDB) estimates that 29 million Africans fell into extreme poverty in 2021, compounded by the loss of approximately 22 million jobs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, Africa's external debt, projected to reach $1.3 trillion at the end of 2023, has left 25 countries grappling with unaffordable debt burdens.
Africa, contributing just 3% of global carbon emissions, disproportionately suffers the impacts of climate change, with annual losses estimated at $7–15 billion. These losses are projected to escalate to $40–50 billion by 2040, according to the AfDB. Furthermore, a recent United Nations report highlighted that Africa requires $1.3 trillion annually to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, stressing the urgency of building an inclusive global financial system.
"The Finance in Common Summit provides a pivotal platform to advance meaningful reforms that address systemic inequities and empower developing nations," says Boitumelo Mosako, Chief Executive Officer of the Development Bank of Southern Africa. "As global leaders, we must commit to an inclusive financial architecture that ensures no one is left behind, equipping Africa and other regions to tackle their most pressing challenges effectively."
A reimagined global financial architecture for the most vulnerable will prioritise equitable access to resources, concessional financing, and tailored solutions to meet their unique challenges. It will feature enhanced emergency financing windows to respond swiftly to natural disasters, pandemics, and economic shocks. Inclusive governance structures will ensure that developing nations, particularly those most at risk, have a voice in decision-making processes.
For the most vulnerable, such as communities on the frontlines of climate change and extreme poverty, the new architecture will drive investment in resilient infrastructure, green energy, and sustainable agriculture. It will also include mechanisms to reduce unsustainable debt burdens, enabling nations to focus on growth and development instead of debt servicing.
FiCS 2025 stands as a Summit of Solutions, challenging DFIs, PDBs, and MDBs to collaborate on actionable strategies to close these gaps. It presents an unparalleled opportunity for institutions like the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to advocate for governance reforms, innovative financing mechanisms, and institutional realignments that prioritise inclusivity and fairness in resource allocation.
Through collaborative action, the summit aspires to create a financial system that is inclusive, resilient, and capable of addressing the complex challenges of the 21st century. By ensuring no one is left behind, FiCS 2025 will empower emerging economies, particularly in Africa, to build financial stability, accelerate infrastructure development, and achieve sustainable growth. This transformative agenda will establish a global financial system designed to foster equitable development and shared prosperity for all.
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About the Development Bank of Southern Africa
The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) is a leading Development Finance Institution (DFI), wholly owned by the government of South Africa. Established in 1983, the DBSA is mandated to promote economic growth and regional integration by mobilising financial and other resources from national and international private and public sectors for sustainable development projects and programmes in South Africa, SADC, and the wider African continent. www.dbsa.org