Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — The Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice, ANEEJ, has called on the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to disclose how it utilised the $3.35 billion Special Drawing Rights, SDR, allocated to Nigeria by the International Monetary Fund, IMF, since 2021.
Recall that the IMF board in August 2021 approved a general allocation of $650billion Special Drawing Rights to help boost the liquidity of member countries following the economic crisis caused by the global Covid-19 virus.
African countries received about $33.8billion, while Nigeria was allocated the sum of $3.35bn as its own share of the SDR fund. SDRs are a component of external assets or reserve assets in the balance of payment account that are readily available to and controlled by a country’s monetary authority.
ANEEJ’s Acting Executive Director, Leo Atakpu, expressed concern over the lack of transparency and accountability in the use of the SDR funds, noting that despite repeated requests, the CBN has refused to disclose how the funds were allocated and utilized.
Atakpu said ANEEJ has been advocating for transparency and accountability in the utilization of SDRs, and has engaged with the IMF, government agencies, and the legislature on the issue.
He said: “The lack of transparency and accountability in the utilization of SDRs is unacceptable. We demand that the CBN publish details of the allocation and utilization of the SDR funds, and that the legislature exercise its oversight role to ensure transparency and accountability in debt management.
“It is however regrettable that the Central Bank of Nigeria has refused to disclose to Nigerians how the SDR was utilized as the custodian of the SDR facility. We reiterate our call on the Central Bank of Nigeria to publish details of the allocation and utilization of the $3.35bn SDR allocated to Nigeria by IMF and tell Nigerians how it has been utilised.
“The Legislature to exercise their constitutional role of oversight on the CBN and other agencies saddled with the responsibility of debt management in the country.
“Speed up the process of rechanneling of SDRs through the African Development Bank for the development of social sectors like education, health and infrastructure, even as we appreciate the approval of the framework for the rechanneling by the Fund.”
ANEEJ also called on the IMF and developed countries to consider redistributing IMF quota based on need, rather than GDP, to help developing countries cope with economic crises.
The group’s demands come as the IMF and the African Development Bank meet for their annual meetings in Nairobi, Kenya.
Atakpu further stated: “In August 2023, ANEEJ in partnership with the African Centre for Energy Policy commissioned two research studies for an assessment of the utilization of SDRs in Nigeria and Ghana as part of activities in the implementation of “Tracking Special Drawing Rights Funds and Raising Citizen’s Voices to End Debt Crises in West Africa’ supported by Open Society Foundation for West Africa.
“The Reports have since been published both in Nigeria and Ghana and used for advocacy and engagements with stakeholders at various levels.
“The report shows among others that the IMF has no clear guideline on how the SDRs should be utilized by member countries, hence, they are used for sectors in less need of them just as the SDRs are allocated to countries in less need for them.
“It also shows that developed nations in less need of the SDRs received much more than developing nations in dire need of the facility for development of critical sectors of their economies. It was also discovered that there was a dearth of knowledge around SDRs among stakeholders in Nigeria including the Executive Arm, the Legislature, Civil Society and Media while legislative oversight by the legislature was totally lacking.”
He said ANEEJ with her partners advocated for reform of SDRs and the entire global financial architecture to help developing countries cope with their developmental challenges, at the just concluded African Development Bank Annual Meeting in Nairobi, Kenya.
