Balancing your demands with govt’s plans not easy – Veep

• Posted on June 1, 2018
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia says striking a balance between the daily needs of the population as against the long term investment of national resources is a difficult task that government has to undertake.

Delivering the keynote address at the 2018 Africa Sovereign Wealth Funds Summit, an event under the auspices of the Afrochampions Initiative at the Marriott Hotel in Accra, under the theme: ” Financing Africa’s Transformation; Moving Africa Beyond Aid; Role of the Sovereign Wealth Fund”, the Vice President said operating in the political economy within the four year mandate a government has is a difficult task.

“As a politician, I have a four year horizon to look at, for the individual out there who votes for the politician, they have a daily horizon to look at, and it is a day by day matter. Am I going to get food today or tomorrow?” the Vice President stated.

Dr. Bawumia further observed, “So when you, as a politician in charge of resources, have to decide whether to spend those resources in investing in one area or another that you may think is very good for the country down the road, the calculus on the other side would be that we want it now, we want the money to be spent on our needs today, and so you have to have a balance between those competing demands so that you can satisfy the needs today while providing for tomorrow.”

Pan African Financing Vehicle

As part of efforts to transform the African continent, the AfroChampions Initiative announced that key African Sovereign Wealth funds have decided to join forces to better support Africa’s development. The alliance will bring together as founding members, the Ghana Infrastructure Investment Funds (FGIS), the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, the Sovereign Fund for Strategic Investment of Senegal (FONSIS), Gabonese Strategic Investment Fund (FGIS), Agaciro (Rwanda Fund for Development) and Ithmar Capital Fund (Morocco Strategic Investment Fund).

These founding institutions will facilitate strategic exchanges between their various funds, share information on their activities and pool their resources for major infrastructure projects.

AfroChampions Initiative

The AfroChampions Club is a prestigious grouping of leading home-grown African multinational companies and CEOs who have come together to provide private sector leadership for Africa’s integration and transformation.

It is chaired by Mr. Aliko Dangote, Founder and CEO of the Dangote Group, and its inaugural meeting took place in Lagos in October, 2017.

Through public-private dialogues and partnerships, the Club seeks to work with African governments to support policies and public-sector innovations that drive African economic integration, regional economic clusters and regional value chains.

The Club will also pioneer the AfroChampions Charter, a set of corporate and investment best practice principles to benchmark and guide how African multinationals and companies can champion African transformation and integration in ways that positively impact communities and people.

-Starrfmonline