|
TGNP calls World Bank to abolish lending conditionalities
2006-07-15 10:05:28
By Patrick Kisembo
The Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) has called upon the World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz to spearhead immediate debt cancellation for Tanzania and all African countries.
The call, which also urged the World Bank President to abolish all forms of conditionalities attached to its lending to Africa in general and Tanzania in particular, was made yesterday by the TGNP through the statement which was made available to this paper.
The appeal by TGNP comes at a time of the visit to the country by the World Bank chief.
TGNP said the failure of privatised companies in the electricity and water sectors to deliver adequate services, as noted recently by former President Benjamin Mkapa, was a further indictment of the forced imposition of universal privatisation formulas by the World Bank and IMF on Tanzania and other debtor nations.
”Moreover, in spite of the policy of so-called debt relief, Tanzania is more indebted today than it was at the start of its HPIC (High idebted Poor Countries) contract with the World Bank and IMF (USD 9.961 billion now compared to some USD 6 billion in 2000),” it said.
The World Bank is one of the biggest creditors to Tanzania.
The TGNP argued in the statement that most of the debts to the World Bank are odious.
According to TGNP, the debts were accumulated on very unfair grounds based on tied aid and conditionalities, the perpetuation of unfair trade, and forcible opening up of the country’s market and economy to importation of goods and services from outside without adequate protection of home industries, including agriculture.
”Neo-liberal policies have made Tanzania a treasure house - rather a plunder house - for multi-national corporations who have flocked to its shores to extract super profits in mining and tourism,” said the statement.
”A dollar that comes to Tanzania today siphons more than two in return which is unequal, unfair and unsustainable,” the statement noted.
The TGNP also accused the WB of its role in perpetuating in debt and neo-liberal macro-economic policies in Tanzania.
|
