Nigeria’s President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called for equitable access to capital for developing countries, noting that such will provide the much-needed resources for development, thus solving some of the most pressing challenges in the world today.
Represented by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, at the 19th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Non-Aligned Movement at the weekend in Kampala, Uganda, Tinubu, however, stressed that the developing world is not looking for sympathy or begging, but fair and equal opportunity.
Chaired by Ugandan President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, this year’s summit was attended by many presidents and heads of government. The Non-Aligned Movement is the largest gathering of countries, second only to the United Nations General Assembly.
In a statement issued by the Director of Information, Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning, Folasade Boriowo, President Tinubu, noted that the combined population of the 120 countries that make up the Non-Aligned Movement is over 4.4 billion or about 55% of the world’s population, yet the total financial resources available to all these countries are much less than that of some countries.
He further noted that the total budgetary resources for the 120 countries is less than $3.5 trillion, which is less than the budget of the United States alone. Whereas the aggregate public debt of less than $6.6 trillion, mostly at higher interest rates and shorter tenor, is about one-sixth of one or a few developed countries, he said.
These startling statistics, Tinubu said, are clear evidence that the Non-Aligned countries suffer from a lack of access to capital and resources for development.
“More often than not, public debt available to developing countries is far more expensive and not substantial enough to make an impact. Therefore, we wish to advocate a financing mechanism and equitable capital market access that can provide adequate financial resources to the Global South,” he stated.
