adminThis is so because most of the developing countries cannot raise enough capital to put up plants to process say minerals into finished or semi-finished products. A good example is the Zimbabwean scenario whereby the country is being forced to export its platinum in raw form despite the fact that the quantities being mined justify having a platinum processing plant.
The country is as a result realising far less than what it could get from the processed platinum. Zimbabwe like the rest of the developing countries is failing to raise the required capital and this is because global financial systems are tilted in favour of developed countries.
The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are structured in such a way that they serve the interests of developed countries at the expense of poor developing countries. It is for this reason that President Mugabe has on many fora called for the reform of these financial institutions so that they also serve the interests of poor nations.
Cde Mugabe repeated his call for what he described as long overdue reform of the international financial structures when he addressed the ongoing United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil (Rio+20) on Wednesday.
President Mugabe said small nations were failing to achieve development objectives owing to punitive economic measures meted out against them by some developed countries. “We call for complete overhaul of the global economic and financial governance structures so that they are more responsive to the needs of poor states, particularly those that are more vulnerable,” said Cde Mugabe.
Economic giants such as the US continue to dictate terms for the Word Bank and IMF at the expense of developing countries. These global financial institutions are as a result failing to avail adequate capital to developing countries so that they can fully exploit and process their natural resources such as minerals.
This is a deliberate act by the developed countries to force developing countries to continue exporting their resources in raw form thereby realising very little. It is time developing countries unite and speak with one voice against this unfair treatment by global financial institutions.
The call for the reform of the World Bank and the IMF should not be a Mugabe call but should be a push by all developing countries that continue to be marginalised as a result of the global financial institutions’ bias towards developed countries.
Most developing countries have adequate resources that can grow their economies once capital is availed but have over the years been deliberately fed on crumbs by global financial institutions so that they remain perpetual beggars.
Online Reporter