Business Home
Lagarde resigns as IMF chief, starting race for her successor
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde attends a news conference – REUTERS
WASHINGTON – 17 July 2019: International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde submitted her resignation from the global crisis lender on Tuesday, citing more clarity about her nomination to lead the European Central Bank as European legislators approved a new top bureaucrat.
Lagarde said in a statement her resignation was effective Sept. 12, firing the starting gun for the IMF’s search for her successor, which is likely to be another European.
“With greater clarity now on the process for my nomination as ECB President and the time it will take, I have made this decision in the best interest of the Fund,” Lagarde said in a statement.
She said her resignation would expedite the selection for the next head of the IMF.
IMF succession is expected to be a major topic of discussion among G7 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting on Wednesday and Thursday in Chantilly, France, near Paris amid concerns that slowing global growth and trade conflicts will pressure vulnerable economies.
Lagarde’s resignation, first reported by Reuters, came two weeks after her nomination on July 2 for the ECB’s top job. She did not immediately quit the IMF because of uncertainty over whether the new European Parliament would support her and other new EU leadership positions, sources told Reuters.
Her nomination was part of a package of top officials agreed by EU governments that included German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president, who drew Green party opposition.
Later on Tuesday, von der Leyen was approved by the European Parliament in a 383-327 vote.
The European parliament will hold a nonbinding vote on Lagarde’s appointment, which is expected to be finalized by EU leaders at a regular summit on Oct. 17-18.
VETTING CANDIDATES
Since its creation at the end of World War Two, the IMF has been led by a European, while its sister institution, the World Bank, has been led by an American. Analysts say the “duopoly” is likely to continue after U.S. President Donald Trump’s nominee, David Malpass, was approved in April to lead the World Bank with European support.
Finance leaders of Europe’s four largest economies — Germany, France, Britain and Italy — will participate in the G7 finance meeting this week in Chantilly, along with other large IMF shareholders the United States, Japan and Canada, giving weight to discussions on IMF leadership.
On the sidelines of the G7 meeting, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, considered a leading candidate to replace Lagarde, is slated to meet with U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who wields strong influence over the IMF’s leadership.
The United States holds an effective veto over major Fund decisions, with a 16.52 percent share of its voting power.
While Carney, 54, is a Canadian economist, he holds Irish and British passports and has led Britain’s central bank since 2013 and chaired the Financial Stability Board, an international body, for seven years.
Other names being floated include Bank of Finland Governor Olli Rehn, as well as ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure.
Kristalina Georgieva, a Bulgarian national who is currently chief executive officer of the World Bank, has been seen as having an outside chance, according to some IMF sources.
Two IMF board sources said there was concern among some IMF member countries that the Fund’s IMF leadership would be left in limbo due to the long ECB confirmation process, and it was better for her to resign to accelerate the succession process.
The IMF’s acting managing director, David Lipton, said earlier on Tuesday that the fund would adapt to Lagarde’s departure as it has other developments over 75 years.
INCLUSIVE LEGACY
A former French finance minister, Lagarde was the first woman to head the IMF and was known among policymakers as a tough negotiator. She was a tireless advocate for the benefits of trade, global growth that aids the poor and middle classes, and the empowerment of women.
Her second five-year term as head of the IMF was not due to end until July 2021. Traditionally, the post has always been held by a European, while the head of the IMF’s sister organization, the World Bank, has always been an American since the institutions were created at the end of World War Two.
If approved, Lagarde would take over as ECB president from Mario Draghi on Oct. 31. While her confirmation could be lengthy, it is likely to be largely a formality as long as the euro zone’s biggest member states – Germany, France and Italy – are in unity.
Her immediate challenge at the ECB would be to overcome her shortcomings in monetary policy-making, especially as it seeks to rearm for a potential new slump after years of using unconventional policy tools to stimulate inflation and growth.
As head of the IMF, she has had some battle-testing, bringing stability to the euro zone debt crisis of the last decade and presiding over large bailouts for Argentina, Egypt and Ukraine. She has emphasized the need for the IMF to maintain its $1 trillion in lending firepower to deal with any future crises.
Credit: Egypt Today
Mastercard and NAPS, a leading Moroccan fintech company, have initiated a collaboration to develop innovative payment solutions for individuals and businesses. The partnership consolidates the strong historical relationship between the two entities. NAPS is on a mission to expand the horizons of digital payments in Morocco. NAPS benefits from the 30+ years of expertise of M2M Group in software for electronic payments and biometric identity. As Mastercard’s partner, NAPS benefits from access to its extensive network, expertise and wide-ranging portfolio of products and services, powered by innovative and secure technologies.
In line with NAPS’s long-term strategy, the collaboration will boost the company’s innovation capabilities through Mastercard’s advanced technology and optimize time to market for its upcoming digital offerings.
“At Mastercard, we are committed to supporting a global network of innovators with the aim of building a more accessible and sustainable digital economy. We serve as a trusted partner of pioneering fintech companies across all stages of development, helping them achieve agility and speed. We are delighted to share our technological expertise with NAPS to pursue our common objective of advancing inclusive growth,” said Mohamed Benomar, Country General Manager, MENA West, Mastercard.
“The partnership with Mastercard will reinforce our position as a market-leading fintech company and support the culture of innovation that is at the core of everything we do. By accelerating the development of digital payment solutions in Morocco, it will also contribute to cementing the country’s status as a premier fintech hub in the Arab world,” said Hassan Ghellab, CEO, NAPS.
NAPS and Mastercard aim to create new ecosystems of digital services in Morocco to unlock the full potential of digital payments and provide users with an enhanced experience through innovative services in order to promote financial inclusion. These digital ecosystems will enable the development of high-value applications and explore new service opportunities, contributing to innovation and the digital transformation of the sector.
The CGAP report Fintechs Across the Arab World, issued in December 2020, highlighted Morocco as the third-largest fintech hub among the 22 member countries of the Arab League. High mobile coverage, a large unbanked population, an abundant supply of talent, infrastructure upgrades and government initiatives encouraging the uptake of digital financial services, coupled with enabling regulations, are among the key drivers of growth in this space.
Press Release
MoCaFi, founded by Nigerian Wole Coaxum, raises $23.5M funding to end racial wealth inequality
MoCaFi Founder and CEO, Wole Coaxum (Image: Wole Coaxum)
Mobility Capital Finance, Inc. (“MoCaFi”), a turnkey fintech platform leading financial empowerment for traditionally underserved communities, announces $23.5M in Series-B financing, led by Commerce Ventures. MoCaFi provides Financial Services as Infrastructure™ to various levels of government to improve the efficiency of providing financial and other resources to underserved communities across the country. The company’s mission is to help excluded communities create wealth through better access to public, private, and social capital.
Founded in 2016 by Wole Coaxum, a Black former Wall Street Executive who was inspired by the 2014 murder of teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO, to address stark social inequities by closing the racial wealth gap. MoCaFi advances a vision of socioeconomic justice by creating pathways to financial empowerment for millions of unbanked or underbanked Americans. With over $100 million of financial resources disbursed to underserved communities across 15 cities and counties across the country, MoCaFi is utilizing its capital to fulfill that vision and scale.
“Commerce Ventures has been unbelievably impressed by MoCaFi’s passion for helping underserved communities access high-quality, affordable financial services,” said Dan Rosen, Founding Partner and Head of Fintech Investments at Commerce Ventures. “MoCaFi’s scalable payments platform enables government agencies (Federal, State and Local) to disburse benefits directly to vulnerable populations in some of the country’s largest municipalities, including Los Angeles, CA, St. Louis, MO and Birmingham, AL. We’re excited to see the company deliver similar value to the next dozen municipality clients while also enabling the under-banked to get access to digital banking services and pathways to accessing credit and building wealth.”
“We are pleased to be joined by new investment partners with such valuable expertise. MoCaFi has established unique government partnerships that are capable of creating dramatic impact at scale, for millions of Americans currently unable to access quality financial services and benefits.”, said Tom Hutton, lead Series A Investor and investor in the Series B round, MoCaFi Board Member and accomplished Fintech venture capitalist.
Billions of dollars in public benefits are left unspent due to various complexities and inefficiencies in disbursement methods. MoCaFi’s platform provides governments with a solution that increases adoption and delivers benefits efficiently while reducing fraud.
“MoCaFi has been the perfect partner for the City of Birmingham. Over the last three years, we have delivered almost $20 million in emergency assistance to thousands of families – keeping them in their homes and keeping the lights on, and we couldn’t have done it without MoCaFi. More than just a payment processor- the MoCaFi team has been a fully engaged thought partner from conception through execution. We are incredibly appreciative of their support and hope to work with them again soon!” said Kelvin Datcher, Senior Advisor to the Mayor of Birmingham.
“We are excited to welcome the new investors to the MoCaFi mission, and appreciate the support of our existing investors, many of whom continue to show their trust by participating in the latest round . This Series B round allows MoCaFi to scale quickly and validates our unique business proposition. With this capital and more importantly, support from these terrific strategic investors, we can continue to innovate and bring our products and services to more municipalities, government entities and community partners – ultimately helping more people.” said Wole Coaxum, MoCaFi CEO & Founder.
The Republic of Angola has become the 21st African Member State and the 1st Lusophone Member State of pan-African insurer, Africa Trade Insurance Agency – ATI, after paying a capital subscription of USD25 million. The membership was funded the Angolan National Treasury resources and proceeds from the landmark BITA water project – a strategic public investment for the construction of infrastructure for the treatment, supply and storage of drinking water that will benefit 2.5 million people in Angola.
Welcoming Angola’s membership, ATI’s Chief Executive Officer, Manuel Moses, noted the country’s demonstration of its commitment to diversify its economy through ATI’s trade and investment risk mitigation solutions.
“We are happy to support Angola in its quest to economic diversification and becoming an agricultural powerhouse on the African continent. Angola’s membership is timely as ATI’s risk mitigation and credit enhancement services will act as a catalyst for strengthening and diversifying Angola’s economy, supporting both increased investment, exports and trade under Africa’s continental framework of the AfCFTA,” Mr. Manuel said.
Under this one of a kind blended finance and guarantee innovative structure, the Republic of Angola – along with the lenders covered by ATI under the transaction – agreed for the use of proceeds under the syndicated loan to also include the financing for the purpose of Angola becoming a member of ATI. ATI provided guarantee and insurance support for this World Bank’s partially guaranteed facility to the Government of Angola for the expansion and improvement of water supply service in the urban and peri-urban belts of Luanda.
Current exposure
ATI’s gross exposure in Angola, the largest country in Southern Africa Region, currently stands at USD467M mainly in construction, energy & gas, trade & transport, water supply and wholesale & retail sectors, with transactions valued at USD1.4B.
“This development was made possible because of ATI’s pan African mandate that allows the organization to cover transactions in Angola and beyond, despite ATI non-membership. Now that Angola is a fully-fledged shareholder of ATI, the country can fully access more of ATI’s guarantee solutions to attract more Foreign Direct Investments and boost its internal and external trade across the region,” Mr. Manual explained.
Angola’s economy is mainly driven by its oil sector but the country seeks to pursue new growth models for economic diversification through the agricultural sector and private sector development.
With ATI’s support, Angola is on the path to fiscal consolidation, manage their debt ceiling, increase in public and private investment, in order to resume the ascending curve of sustainable and inclusive economic growth as well as human development.
ATI has grown from a small African start-up in 2001 into a pan-African institution with presence across Africa and with a significant global reach. Besides Angola, other member countries include Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Institutional members include African Development Bank, African Reinsurance Corporation, Atradius Group, Chubb, CESCE (Spanish ECA), Ministry of Finance India (represented by ECGC), SACE SIMEST, The Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Trade and Development Bank (TDB), Kenya-Re, The PTA Reinsurance Company (Zep-Re), and the UK Export Finance.
-
Press Release3 days agoMoCaFi, founded by Nigerian Wole Coaxum, raises $23.5M funding to end racial wealth inequality
-
Technology3 days agoYellow Card and Tether join forces to drive stablecoin education and adoption
-
Press Release2 days agoMastercard partners with NAPS to drive innovation across Morocco