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Africa News of Tuesday, 18 May 2021

Source: africanews.com

Africa Finance Summit to address post-pandemic recovery

France's President Emmanuel Macron and President Muhammadu Buihari France's President Emmanuel Macron and President Muhammadu Buihari

Several Africa leaders landed in Paris on Monday for the Africa Finance Summit set for Tuesday and Wednesday.

Among the arrival were several heads of states like Presidents Kagame of Rwanda, Buhari of Nigeria, Dennis Sassou N’guesso of the Republic of Congo, Tshisekedi of DRC, Ramaphosa of South Africa among other leaders.

The summit comes a day after President Emmanuel Macron announced the cancellation of Sudan’s French debt of about $5 billion in an effort to support the country's transitional leadership.

The meeting has been touted by some observers as attempting to create a "new deal" for African economies.

The International Monetary Fund warned in late 2020 that Africa risks falling short of its development with a financial gap of $290 billion up to 2023.

The Summit aims to strengthen Africa’s economic perseverance even as the pandemic takes a toll on the world’s economic progress.

Several calls for relief of African debts were made in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.

The African debt is worth three hundred and sixty-five billion dollars, which only represents 2% of the global debt.