IMF, World Bank begin meetings in Africa

MARRAKESH, Oct 09 (AFP): The IMF and World Bank began talks in Morocco Monday in their first annual meetings on African soil in 50 years, under pressure to reform to better aid poor nations blighted by debt and climate change.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank (WB) traditionally hold their annual gathering of finance ministers and central bank governors outside their Washington headquarters every three years.
The southern Moroccan city of Marrakesh was supposed to host it in 2021, but the gathering was postponed twice because of the Covid pandemic.
A powerful earthquake that killed nearly 3,000 people in the region south of Marrakesh last month threatened to derail the event again, but the government decided it could go ahead.
"The country has gone through a very tough time just a month ago," IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said as she opened a panel discussion titled "Africa Inspired".