Background
The African Caucus meets generally twice a year: once during the Annual meetings of the WBG and IMF and the second time in the country chairing the Caucus. The Caucus’ meetings are open to IMF and WBG Executive Directors representing those countries. These meetings constitute opportunities for African officials and central bank authorities as well as heads of Bretton Woods Institutions to exchange views on major economic policy concerns regarding the economies of the continent.
The main outcomes of African Caucus are laid out in a Memorandum of the African Caucus to the President of the World Bank Group and the Managing Director of IMF. In recent years, the discussions have been concluded with African Caucus Declarations. This year, it has concluded with the 2016 Cotonou Declaration
Benin assumed the chairmanship of the African Caucus following the Annual Meetings in October 2015 in Lima, Peru. As chair, the country hosted the 2016 African Caucus meetings on August 4-5 in Cotonou.
Against the backdrop of commodity price decline, tightening financial conditions on capital markets and multiplicity of shocks of non-economic sources—security and climate-related challenges—the conduct of development policies in the continent prove to be more challenging. However, it is essential to safeguard progress made by African economies during the past decade. Stakes are high for growth, public finances, macroeconomic balances and development. Thus, the general theme of the 2016 African Caucus meetings: “Scaling Up Bretton Woods Institutions’ Support to Address Shocks, Boost Growth and Enhance Transformation in Africa”.
Source: http://en.africancaucus.org/
See also African Caucus Guiding Principles
