AFRICA: New World Bank chief begins whistle-stop tour of continent

By Pratap Chatterjee Reprint | | Print |

Pratap Chatterjee

WASHINGTON, Jun 18 1995 (IPS) - On hand to greet Jim Wolfensohn, the new World Bank president, when his flight touched down in Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris this week was Daniel Kablan Duncan, the prime minister of the Ivory Coast.

Wolfensohn was in transit to Mali, his first stop on an 11- day whistle-stop tour of Africa, his first venture abroad as chief of the world’s largest development agency. Duncan was in Paris for a two-day, Bank-hosted meeting with representatives of the major bilateral and multilateral lending agencies to ask for new loans for his country.

The day before, Kwesi Botchwey, Ghana’s finance minister, wrapped up similar Bank-chaired talks with delegates from the major bilateral and multilateral lending agencies.

But Botchwey was not invited to meet Wolfensohn at the airport, despite his role in helping Ghana become the the darling of the Bank in Africa over the past decade. Nor is Ghana on Wolfensohn’s itinerary.

Botchwey has fallen from grace, according to analysts here, who say his imposition of a value-added tax earlier this year to help reduce budget shortfalls has strained relations with the Bank. Botchwey has since complained that some of the conditions imposed by the Bank on its loans have “destabilising” effects on the economy and the government.

The tax was withdrawn last week after protests culminated in five people being killed when police clashed with demonstrators in Accra’s large central market in May.

In Mali, Wolfensohn spent two days meeting with Alpha Oumar Konare and Ibrahim Kinate, Mali’s president and prime minister, and making quick on-site visits to Bank-funded agriculture, education, health and urban renovation projects.

The Ivory Coast, where Wolfensohn will spend 24 hours, will bring smiles to the faces of Kim Jaycox, the Bank’s vice-president for Africa and Michel Bruno, the Bank’s chief economist, who are accompanying the new chief on his trip.

Last year the Ivory Coast registered positive economic growth for the first time in seven years. Its gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to continue rising, fuelled partly by a contract with United Meridian Corporation of Texas to drill for oil.

Like Ghana, the Ivory Coast has recently experienced major protests against economic reforms. In 1992, buses were set ablaze and stores looted after student protests turned violent.

Since then, Duncan’s government has worked to ensure that such a situation does not repeat itself. When the government last year devalued its currency, the CFA franc, ministers toured the countryside to explain the reasons for the devaluation.