Speech by His Excellency Naam MIYARA, Speaker of the House of Councilors of the Kingdom of Morocco and Chairman of the Association of Senates, Choura Councils and Equivalent Councils of Africa and the Arab World during the ninth consultative meeting of the Association

Bujumbura, Republic of Burundi, September 19-20, 2022

Honourable Vice-President of the Friendly Republic of Burundi,

Mister Mayor of the City of Bujumbura,

Honourable Speaker of the Senate of the Republic of Burundi,

Ladies and Gentlemen, Honourable Presidents Senates, Shoora and Equivalent Councils;

League Member Delegations,

Honourable Secretary General of the Association,

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished participants,

At the first attempt, I have the pleasure of expressing my sincere thanks and my deep appreciation to the Republic of Burundi, to the Government, to the parliament and to the people for the generosity, the hospitality and the warm welcome that we have received since we set foot on the land of the Friend Republic of Burundi.

I also have the honour to express to you my joy at our meeting today and through this important meeting, in order to deliberate and deepen the discussion and exchange of views on two major subjects of the international agenda, namely: “the effects and repercussions of covid-19 on Arab-African economies”, as well as “the effects of the Russian-Ukrainian war on supply chains, energy and food prices”.

There is no doubt that both topics are of great importance and complexity, as they focus on a number of interrelated main challenges facing the whole World and the African and Arab regions in particular; and they are related to achieving pandemic recovery and economic take-off to ensure food and energy security on the other hand.

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished participants,

As we all know, the Corona pandemic that broke out in the world at the end of 2019 caused great damage to most of the economic sectors of the countries, which entered the world economy in a phase of semi-stagnation. According to International Monetary Fund estimates, global economic losses from the pandemic will reach around $15 trillion by the end of 2024, or 2.8% of total global output.

According to the fund, central banks the world the world all over have increased their balance sheets by a combined $7.5 trillion to deal with the pandemic, and have only injected liquidity in 2020 that exceeds what they have pumped over the last ten years combined. The Corona pandemic, according to the World Bank, has also led to a decline in the economic, health and food security of millions of the world’s population, which has pushed an estimated 150 million people into poverty in 2020 alone, particularly on the African continent, and world food prices increased by 14% in the same year. With the pandemic continuing, the global economy entered 2022 in a weaker position than expected, with the global growth rate declining by more than 1.5% between 2021 and 2022. Given the high prices of energy and supply chain disruptions, the inflation is likely to continue to rise in the long run.

As far as Africa and the Arab world are concerned, the consequences of the Corona pandemic and its repercussions on the two regions have led to the collapse of oil prices and the drop in global demand for it before it increases due to other factors, and the pandemic has also led to a slowdown in the growth of the economies of the countries of the two regions, due to its direct effects on the financial sector in general and on PIB/GDP (GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT). According to the World Bank, in 2020 the Middle East and North Africa region suffered significant PIB (GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT) losses estimated at around $200 billion. This includes damage to key sectors, especially energy, aviation, tourism and others. In addition, the region’s economies contracted in the same year by around 3.8%, according to World Bank estimates.

At the African level, the course of economic recovery from the effects and repercussions of the epidemic is still uneven and incomplete, and it is occurring at varying paces across the African continent. However, in its latest report on the African continent, published in April this year, the World Bank projects that the regional growth rate will reach 4.1% in the current 2022 and 4.9% in 2023.

Dear colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen, Honourable audience,

As soon as the world emerged from the tunnel of the Covid-19 crisis, the Ukrainian-Russian crisis began, which directly affected regional and global economic conditions, and aggravated the crisis in energy, food, prices of raw materials, minerals, fertilizers, and supply chains, which have added increasing complications in the recovery process of the global economy in general and the Afro-Arab economy in particular, as they have hurt growth, raised prices and increased the rate of inflation.

As for the Arab and African countries, if the turbulence linked to the outbreak of the Corona pandemic had already contributed to the rise in world food prices and the worsening of poverty, the Ukrainian-Russian crisis caused prices to rise to reach its highest levels in decades, as in the level of Arab-African food security, it has decreased Stocks at a significant level; prices continue to rise, purchasing power is weakening, and the effects are direct, rapid and prolonged.

An increase in food and fuel prices would lead to security risks and instability in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, while food insecurity is likely to increase in some Arab and African countries.

In order to meet these challenges, Arab and African governments must strive to establish and expand social protection systems so that everyone in the region can exercise their rights to an adequate standard of living, including the right to food and the right to social security. It should also increase national production, reduce imports and take all economic measures that would help to deal with the effects and repercussions of this crisis.

 Dear colleagues,

Ladies and gentlemen, Honourable audience,

I am absolutely certain that ladies and gentlemen, the Chairpersons and members of the delegations will enrich the deliberations and discussions that will take place on these two important subjects with their documents, their interventions, their brilliant ideas and their vast experiences in a way that will enable this important meeting to address the effects and repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukrainian-Russian crisis on the Arab-African economy in a manner that serves the interests of our countries and peoples.

To conclude, I renew my thanks and my gratitude to the Senate of the friend Republic of Burundi for the considerable efforts it has made to organize this important meeting, hoping that its work will be crowned with success.

Thank you all for listening