Finance Minister Mohammed Amin Adam has called for increased innovative investment in high-quality ICT infrastructure, such as blockchain technology and artificial intelligence.
Speaking at the African Caucus Meeting, chaired by World Bank president, Ajay Banga, on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington DC, USA, the minister said this is necessary to boost continental development.
Amin Adam urged world leaders to prioritise technology when investing in Africa and emphasised the importance of removing trade barriers.
“We recognise Intra-African Trade as a Catalyst for economic growth, job creation and poverty reduction and are committee to surmounting all impediments to intra African trade, with the invaluable support of the world bank and the IMF.
The meeting offered Africa leaders the platform to present requests to the Britton wood institutions for a possible redress.
“We’ve identified an effective and unified intra-continental payment system as one of the imperatives of intra- African trade. We recognise that financial inclusion and harmonised trade routes are necessary to ensure an inclusive Africa Continental Free Trade Area implementation, leaving no country or individual behind”.
The 2024 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) started on Monday, October 21 and will end on Saturday, October 26 2024.