Statement delivered by H.E. Seedy K. M. Keita, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, The Gambia
V20 MINISTERIAL DIALOGUE XII
16 April 2024
Washington D.C., USA
H.E. Seedy K. M. Keita, Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, The Gambia
Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen. I am pleased to join you here today from the Smiling Coast of Africa, The Gambia. Thank you, V20 Chair, Minister Mohammed Amin Adam.
The Gambia is highly vulnerable to climate shocks with over 60 percent of people engaged and earning their livelihoods in agriculture, implying that the main source of income for a significant share of the household is at risk. I know that many V20 countries are in similar situations with debt service deferrals expiring, and pressure for us to build the fiscal buffers, while at the same time, we must invest in resilience to protect our economies and communities from worsening impacts of climate change. Our key area of opportunity is private sector-led growth, and the Gambia is undertaking a Climate Prosperity Plan to complement our medium-term recovery focused National Development Plan otherwise locally known as YIRIWAA and long-term climate neutral development strategy. We also hope this brings an opportunity to bolster our expanding financial architecture, with future capital markets starting with equities.
In order to bring private sector investors, we need partners here today from the Multilateral Development Banks and the Green Climate Fund to issue local currency financing for climate projects, and to work with us to develop our capital markets. We must mobilize existing and additional multilateral guarantee funds, including more concessional financing, including grants. I urge the Multilateral Development Banks to create more grant windows, or at least a highly concessional window for adaptational resilience. Earlier today, there was a meeting of the V20 Central Banks, and we think that is an opportunity for countries with the most traded currencies to create long-term Central Bank swap arrangements with specific currency covers for investment in green projects in the V20 economics like The Gambia.
With that, I submit. Thank you.
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