PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan addressed the G20 summit yesterday, making a direct appeal to the G20 in requesting the transfer of special drawing rights (SDRs) at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to African financial institutions such as the African Development Bank (AfDB).

In remarks intended for the plenary session of leaders at the Rio de Janeiro conference premises in Brazil, the president said that Africa needs a fairer global financial system, “one that includes preferential mechanisms to better support developing countries.”

Tanzania seeks further debt relief, increased aid and concessional loans that address current needs and vulnerabilities, she said, voicing strong support for enhanced international cooperation such as the G20’s Global Alliance against hunger and poverty, to promote innovation and inclusive growth.

“Our gathering today demonstrates our collective resolve not to leave the world as it is. We must redouble our efforts and honour our commitments to build a world of fairness, prosperity and justice,” she said.

Experts noted that the remarks take to the next stage appeals issued back in May 2022 in annual meetings of the board of governors and state parties to the AfDB at its annual meeting in the Ghanaian capital of Accra, where the president appealed to multilateral financiers to allow the AfDB to access SDR allocations to benefit African countries in development.

"We have to raise our voices to ask multilateral financiers to allow AfDB to access SDRs because the facility is going to benefit Africa,” she said, underlining that Africa “will be close to getting funds from our own bank for our own development.”

President Samia told delegates during a dialogue at the annual meetings of the AfDB and the Africa Development Fund (ADF), where she was also at the second day of a three-day working visit in Ghana.

At the G20 event, she highlighted that Africa was grappling with unsustainable levels of poverty, hunger, disease, malnutrition and low productivity, asserting that many young people are facing compounded challenges.

She stated that the situation is driven by ongoing conflicts and international policies that exacerbate food shortages, hinder competition and limit access to critical markets and technologies.

“We’re still in a world where many are waiting for the promised benefits of globalisation to be realised, holding onto the hope that reforms in international governance will bring fair representation and provide the resources needed to overcome poverty,” she declared.

“If the world remains as it is, the question we will ask in 2030 will not be ‘how much have we failed to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (SDGs)?’ but rather, “how many more people has the world left behind in terms of development?’” she stated.

A fair and sustainable world is only possible when developing countries like Tanzania receive the support, resources and representation necessary to drive sustainable development, she said, acknowledged that, despite the challenges,PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan  has made significant progress through policy and institutional reforms.

This includes targeted investments aimed at transforming its agricultural systems, as 61.5 per cent of the country’s workforce is employed in agriculture, and our efforts have raised the sector’s growth rate to 4.2 percent.

These efforts have resulted in food self-sufficiency reaching 128 percent, while poverty levels have dropped to 26.4 percent in 2023, she added.