Indexed bonds to tackle instabilities, businesses, livelihoods in Africa

 BY BEN EGUZOZIE

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has partnered with the African Union (AU) to develop security-indexed investment bonds to help mobilise funding to address the root causes of political instability, protect businesses and livelihoods, and rebuild infrastructure in conflict-affected areas in Africa, said Akinwumi Adesina, president of the bank.

Adesina said the bank is also providing support to vulnerable and internally displaced women living in refugee camps in the Sahel region.

Adesina, while adding his voice to the African Union’s call to “silence the guns,” said “nothing works without peace and security.

 He noted that many parts of Africa face major security challenges from conflict and war. “Today, 85% of Africans live in or near a country in conflict,” he added.

 “Women and children are disproportionately affected by wars,” he said; adding that “sexual violence, abductions, forced conscription and trafficking in women must end. Women’s voices must never be silenced,” Adesina added.

 The AfDB chief also stressed the importance of a collective responsibility to unite in order to resolve conflicts, break cycles of violence and address fragility.

A number of countries and regions on the continent have been embroiled in conflicts ranging from political leadership tussle and insurgencies throwing up refugees, and destruction of properties.

 According to John Campbel of the US Council on Foreign Relations, “poor political leadership informs the bad governance that is Africa’s greatest barrier to social and economic development”. 

Linsey Chutel said the refusal of some African leaders “to be open and honest with the public further shows a disregard for the people who put them in power, and in turn erodes public trust in the leaders themselves.”

Poor civilian democratic leadership in many African nations have thrown up rising socio-economic stresses, which tended to erode public confidence in institutions of democratic governance around the continent. 

Whereas this led to increased riots elsewhere around the world, in Africa (especially West), it translated to a spate of military coups d’état. For instance, since the beginning of 2021, there have been military seizures of power in Guinea, Mali (twice), and Burkina Faso (in early 2022). 

In March 2021, a coup attempt was foiled in Niger. This was only days before the inauguration of the President. Guinea and Mali are illustrative of the broader trend in the region. 

Coup d’états in West Africa are at a rate unseen since before the adoption of the Lomé Declaration in July 2000, which banned coups, and adopted sanctions against those that take power through a coup.

Jonathan Powell and Clayton Thyne, two US researchers, in a study identified over 200 coup attempts in Africa since 1952, with 70 happening in West Africa. About half of these coups were successful – explained as lasting more than seven days. Burkina Faso (in West Africa) has had the most successful coups, with nine takeovers and only one failed coup.