Governor of the Bank of Ghana (BoG), Dr. Johnson Asiama says the International Monetary Fund (IMF) must overhaul how it responds to Africa’s growing economic challenges, warning that the continent is facing a convergence of crises that current tools are too slow to address.
Speaking at the African Consultative Group meeting at the IMF headquarters, Johnson Pandit Asiama delivered a pointed message: Incremental reforms will not be enough.
The meeting, attended by IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva, brought together African central bank governors at a time when many economies across the continent are grappling with rising debt burdens, climate-related shocks and tightening global financial conditions.
Dr. Asiama acknowledged the role of the Fund in stabilising economies but argued that its current approach particularly on sovereign debt restructuring is no longer fit for purpose.
At the core of his intervention was a call for faster and more predictable debt resolution.
He urged the IMF to use its influence more assertively under the G20 Common Framework to ensure that debt workouts are completed within clear timelines and with stronger participation from private creditors.
He also highlighted a critical flaw in current IMF programme design where delays caused by creditor negotiations are treated the same as domestic policy failures.
According to him, this undermines reforming countries that remain locked in prolonged restructuring processes despite implementing tough economic measures.
The implications are significant.
Across Africa, delayed debt resolutions are increasingly acting as an economic drag, which is prolonging uncertainty, discouraging investment and delaying access to international capital markets.
Dr. Asiama described the broader macroeconomic environment as “exceptionally challenging,” citing high borrowing costs, fragile fiscal positions and repeated external shocks.
He pointed to spillovers from geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as an added risk, exacerbating inflation and weakening external balances in many economies.
While welcoming the IMF’s broader policy direction, he stressed the need for what he termed a “step-change” in how the institution responds to overlapping crises.
That includes rethinking key frameworks and tools.
He called for reforms to the low-income country debt sustainability framework, wider use of the IMF’s Integrated Policy Framework and quicker but more tailored deployment of its crisis-response mechanisms for vulnerable economies.
‘”Recent shocks, including the Middle East conflict, have also exposed the need for emergency financing that is adequately resourced and readily accessible to members confronting acute balance-of-payments pressure,”
The Bank of Ghana Governor made a case for the IMF to deploy its own balance sheet more aggressively.
This, he argued, should involve scaling up concessional financing, accelerating the reallocation of Special Drawing Rights and making facilities such as the Resilience and Sustainability Trust more flexible and responsive to countries facing both liquidity pressures and climate risks.
He also stressed the need for faster access to emergency funding, noting that recent global shocks have exposed gaps in how quickly support can be mobilised for countries facing acute balance-of-payments stress.
Beyond financing, Dr. Asiama underscored the continued importance of technical support from the Fund, particularly in areas such as domestic revenue mobilisation, debt management, financial sector oversight and emerging risks linked to digital assets and cybersecurity.
CNR
