10. Speeches of World Bank Presidents [collection under construction]

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Remarks By World Bank Group President David Malpass at an Event for the Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence: A Pathway Towards Sustainable Development

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-10-17) Malpass, David

These remarks were delivered by World Bank Group President David Malpass at an event for the Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence : A Pathway Towards Sustainable Development on October 17, 2022. He congratulated the ACE centers, and their host institutions and governments for working across borders to achieve impressive innovative research outputs and the training of the next generation of Africa’s scientists, engineers, ICT specialists and teachers across the priority sectors of education, health, agriculture, STEM, and environment. He also thanked the Association of African Universities (AAU), the Inter-University Council of East Africa, the French National Research Institute for Sustainable Development (IRD), the French Development Agency (AFD), and the China-World Bank Partnership Facility. He said that the ACE program offers regional specializations which are attracting students, researchers, and industry from the entire continent and enhancing regional integration in Africa. In keeping with the focus on leveraging partnerships, last month the World Bank entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with six Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). He highlighted that the ACEs are a great example of how building coalitions for change can help to enhance tertiary education in Africa. He concluded by saying that he looks forward to hearing about the innovation and impact of the ACEs as he walks through the exhibition.
Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the 2022 Ibrahim Governance Forum

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-05-25) Malpass, David

These remarks were delivered by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the 2022 Ibrahim Governance Forum on May 25, 2022. He spoke about the world is facing a dangerous period of overlapping crises of the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation, debt, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He explanied that Africa is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the overlapping crises. He spoke about climate interventions and projects offer large global public good benefits, but many require substantial external funding as well as a comprehensive policy framework. He emphasized the importance of strong governance and sound institutions to confronting climate challenges in Africa, the area which is at the core of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s work. He highlighted that the Ibrahim Index of African governance is vital in understanding the overall trajectory of governance in Africa and informing decision-making processes, including in response to climate change. He said that building a more climate-resilient Africa does not mean slowing down development or the progress toward achieving SDG7. He concluded by saying that various steps will be essential in Africa’s transition from subsistence farming to productive economic activity in agriculture, services, industry, and public sectors.
Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass to the African Consultative Group at the 2022 Spring Meetings

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-04-22) Malpass, David

These remarks were delivered by World Bank Group President David Malpass to the Development Committee at 2022 Spring Meetings on April 22, 2022. The war in Ukraine is an added challenge to catastrophic droughts, the surge in food prices, and disruptions of food supply chains. An estimated 100 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa are expected to face food insecurity in the coming months. In Ethiopia, South Sudan and Madagascar, there were no rains for the past three years. In the Horn of Africa alone, twenty-five million people are facing famine. The Sahel faces drought, environmental degradation, displacement, poor trade integration, and the deteriorating security situation are key factors. Cameroon, the Gambia, Sudan, Tanzania, Kenya, and South Africa were major importers of agri-food products originating from Russia. Djibouti, Egypt, and Tunisia have already been experiencing high food price inflation over the past year owing to the region’s dependence on cereal imports.
Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the Ninth World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-03-21) Malpass, David

These remarks were delivered by World Bank Group President David Malpass at Remarks by World Bank Group President David Malpass at the Ninth World Water Forum in Dakar, Senegal on March 21, 2022. At the Fragility Forum at the World Bank in early March, we showed that 23 countries, with a combined population of 850 million people, are facing high, or medium-intensity conflict. Over 300 million people in fragile and conflict settings experienced acute food insecurity in 2021, and the war in Ukraine is making shortages and food price spikes even worse. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought dramatic reversals in development outcomes. Indicators of poverty, growth, nutrition, education, and security are all deteriorating, rather than improving as is needed for the world to truly develop. The latest hammer blow is inflation and rising interest rates. They hit the poor the hardest and make inequality worse. Today’s world faces other enormous challenges. The Water Forum today focuses on the importance of water security for development and peace. Population growth and increased use of water are creating water scarcity and intense competition for water. Ongoing climate change heightens the water crisis, which is starkly evident in Africa. Only 58 percent of Africans have access to safe drinking water. Only 10 percent of hydroelectricity potential is being put to work. Globally, 2 billion people lack access to safely managed drinking water and over 3.6 billion people lack safely managed sanitation.
Remarks to the Heads of State of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-08-18) Malpass, David

Bank Group President David Malpass said that deep structural reforms are needed now more than ever to secure social cohesion and put the region on a sustainable and more inclusive development path. The World Bank Group has maintained a long-standing partnership with Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) and its individual members, providing a range of support including investment programs, budget support, advisory services, and technical assistance. The World Bank is partnering with the African Union to support the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT) with resources to purchase and deploy single-dose vaccines for up to four hundred million people across Africa. Debt transparency and sustainability will be vital to a sustained recovery and attracting new investment. He spoke about two critical paths to help strengthen implementation of reforms and policies going forward. He concluded by saying that this day's summit and its strong political endorsement for the next phase of regional structural reforms is thus critical for the emergence of a more sustainable and more inclusive growth path for CEMAC in the future.
Remarks at the Global Health Summit Co-Hosted by the European Commission and Italy

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05-21) Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass highlighted that in the first year of the pandemic, the World Bank Group committed $180 billion to help countries respond to the health, economic, and social impacts of the pandemic. The Bank authorized $12 billion to help countries access and deploy vaccines, with the goal of vaccinating a billion people in developing countries. The World Bank launched a website to make all information about our vaccination projects easily accessible in one place. He urged countries with excess supplies to release their surplus doses as soon as possible to developing countries that have vaccination operations already in place, and he also urged all of them to increase the transparency of these delivery commitments. At Tuesday’s Summit on Financing of African Economies, he announced his commitment to provide $150 billion in financing for sub-Saharan Africa over the next five years. Pandemic preparedness means investments across sectors, not just in health. The Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has shown that social safety nets that provide digital cash transfers are particularly valuable, adding to the resilience of food security, basic health, and education. He concluded that the World Bank Group is committed to the health agenda. By working together, we can help developing countries build the resilience they need when they face major threats to their people’s health.
Remarks at the Western and Central Africa Regional Media Roundtable

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05-20) Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic that has taken a toll on African lives, economies, and livelihoods. The World Bank intends to invest and mobilize about $150 billion over the next five years in Africa to support the continent’s recovery from the pandemic and its long-term development. He urged countries that expect to have excess vaccine supplies to release their excess as soon as possible to developing countries that have delivery programs in place. He emphasized the need for greater transparency in contracts between governments, pharmaceutical companies, and organizations that are involved in vaccine production and delivery so that financing can be directed effectively, and countries can plan for receipt and deployment. The World Bank yesterday launched a comprehensive online portal that provides easy access to information about their projects, including individual country-financing operations. He spoke about comprehensive debt solutions which will involve at least four elements: debt suspension, debt reduction, debt resolution, and debt transparency. He stated that without private creditors fully onboard, the Common Framework will not deliver a sustainable solution for Chad, Ethiopia, or Zambia. As countries work to recover, tackling climate change will be key for the region. The Bank is also working to address fragility, conflict, and violence. He concluded that while we know that the road to recovery will be long, countries in the region have applied lessons from previous crisis such as the West Africa Ebola outbreak in 2014, and many countries have strengthened their social safety nets to help protect the poor that have been most affected by the crisis, and to move faster on key reforms and investments that will be crucial for long-term development.
Remarks at the Summit on Financing African Economies

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-05-18) Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass spoke about the World Bank Group using all possible resources, financing tools, and dedicated staff across the continent to improve African lives and business prospects. He mentioned the Board-approved financing operations in many African countries to obtain safe doses and to administer them quickly and fairly as soon as the producer countries, COVAX, or manufacturers are ready. Over the past decade, the World Bank Group has invested two hundred billion dollars in Africa. Over the next five years, the Group intends to invest and mobilize another one hundred fifty billion dollars to support the continent’s development. He focused on the need for large inflows of long-term resources for Africa. Another important part of Bank's support to Africa will be mobilization of the private sector, either directly through IFC and MIGA, or indirectly through funding by IDA and IBRD on capital markets. He concluded by highlighting the initiatives for Africa that he discussed with the President Macron recently.
Remarks at the Virtual Meeting on the Africa COVID-19 Vaccine Financing and Deployment Strategy

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-01-27) Malpass, David

World Bank Group President David Malpass provided an update on the World Bank Group’s vaccination efforts. Coronavirus (COVID-19) has had a heavy toll on the people of Africa in terms of lives lost and the severe economic impact that is hitting the most vulnerable the hardest. The Group is preparing emergency vaccine financing projects in twenty-one countries in Africa. He highlighted IFC work to mobilize financing for vaccine production and therapeutics focused on developing countries. In implementing the vaccines programs, the World Bank Group is working directly with governments, including finance for their purchases from vaccine manufacturers and via COVAX, and for deployment efforts working with partners such as WHO and UNICEF. He urged the leaders of African countries to move quickly to secure vaccinations for their populations, and to avail themselves of the financing available from the World Bank Group and other partners to help with this.
Remarks at the Mobilizing with Africa II Event

(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2020-10-09) Malpass, David

David Malpass, President of the World Bank, remarked that the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and global recession are wiping out more than a decade of poverty alleviation. He focused on crisis response and supporting recovery.