- Sustainable Finance
- Health
AEF at the WBG/IMF Spring Meetings
- The Africa-Europe Foundation
The IMF and WBG spring meetings are notoriously decisive moments for global financial reforms and an agenda-setting opportunity to identify the next steps in joint advocacy. In 2025, this is of particular significance as we head into the Financing for Development Conference in Sevilla, Spain.
From AEF's perspective, it's an opportunity to absorb insights and trends in global finance as we prepare for our engagement at the Ibrahim Governance Weekend. There, we will work with South Africa's G20 and strategic partners on issues of tax, domestic resource mobilisation, and illicit financial flows.
AEF's primary engagement at the Spring Meetings is a joint session with the ONE Campaign on the morning of 23 April.
Given the current financial crisis health multilateralism faces, the roundtable will focus on unlocking opportunities to open fiscal space for investments, particularly in the health sector. Recommendations will look at debt and tax reforms, critical components of ONE and AEF's respective partnerships with South Africa's G20 presidency, as well as ways to leverage the Africa-Europe partnership for their implementation.
Pathways to Progress: Enhancing Fiscal Space and Reimagining Health Financing in African Countries.
ONE Campaign and Africa-Europe Foundation will host an invite-only roundtable on Wednesday, 23 April, from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM under the theme "Pathways to Progress: Enhancing Fiscal Space and Reimagining Health Financing in African Countries.
About the roundtable:
African countries face significant challenges in expanding their fiscal space, crucial for sustainable development and essential public services. Limited domestic resource mobilization, inefficient taxation frameworks, and high debt levels constrain governments' ability to invest in health, education, and infrastructure. At the same time, major donors are reducing funding for health in Africa, potentially slashing up to $8 billion annually. Addressing these challenges requires innovative approaches and partnerships.
This roundtable will discuss tangible solutions for reimagining finance models that ensure greater financial autonomy, which is critical to tackling economic and development challenges in Africa. It will seek to understand innovative and accelerated approaches to domestic resource mobilization, debt management, and health financing in Africa. Moreover, it will elevate the role of the Africa-Europe partnership in actioning innovative financial mechanisms, ideate new global platforms and partnerships to bridge funding gaps and shape international best practices, and build consensus on opportunities to grow economies and incentivize spending on health in Africa.
Strategically placed on the sidelines of the WBG/IMF Spring Meetings, this roundtable is particularly timely in light of South Africa's G20 Presidency. It provides a unique opportunity to align discussions with global financial agendas and leverage the momentum for impactful change.