Fabio Panetta: Italy and the World Bank Group "Partnering for
Africa's prosperity"
Welcome address by Mr Fabio Panetta, Governor of the Bank of Italy, at the 80th
anniversary of the Bretton Woods Conference, jointly organised by the Bank of Italy, the
Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance and the World Bank Group, Rome, 8
November 2024.
* * *
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen,
It is a pleasure to welcome you to this conference organized jointly by Banca d'Italia,
the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance and the World Bank Group.
This year marks the 80th anniversary of the Bretton Woods Conference, a landmark
event that laid the foundation for modern global economic cooperation.
Since then, the World Bank has played a key role in promoting sustainable
development, reducing poverty and driving infrastructure growth around the globe.
From post-war reconstruction in Europe to today's support for low-income countries, the
World Bank remains a key player in the fight against extreme poverty and inequality.
Today, the international community faces new, complex challenges.
In recent years, an unprecedented sequence of shocks - from the pandemic to
Russia's aggression against Ukraine to the energy crisis - has had a significant
economic impact, exacerbating existing protectionist sentiments. Globalization, once
seen as unstoppable, is now being challenged by geopolitical conflicts that threaten
international trade and the stability of the world economy.
As global trade fragments, major countries are increasingly reluctant to rely on trading
partners with which they lack stable political, economic or cultural ties.
This is fuelling growing fears of a world once again divided into economic, political and
even military blocs, challenging the principles of international cooperation and
multilateralism that have underpinned global economic progress and kept the peace
between the great powers since the Second World War.
As we mark this anniversary, we reflect on the vision of the leaders who came together
80 years ago to create a more connected and prosperous world.
We reaffirm our commitment to the enduring principles of global cooperation and
multilateralism that emerged from Bretton Woods, which today are more important than
ever to keep the peace in an increasingly divided world.
In this spirit, it is essential that the global community come together again, setting
differences aside in order to find shared solutions to the interconnected challenges that
affect us all.
* * *
Italy is a long-standing partner of the World Bank Group. Our country joined the
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development in 1947 and was one of the first
countries to receive a loan to rebuild its economy after the Second World War.
Banca d'Italia has been involved from the very beginning. It was one of my
predecessors, Donato Menichella, then Governor of Banca d'Italia, who conceived the
special Southern Development Fund (Cassa per il Mezzogiorno), which proved to be a
powerful instrument for attracting, coordinating and implementing aid in the largest
intervention the World Bank had ever made in Europe.1
The World Bank's assistance to Italy from the early 1950s to the mid-1960s had two
objectives. First, to finance the aid programme centred on the Cassa per il
Mezzogiorno. Second, to cover the additional dollar needs following the programme's
adoption without depleting Italy's foreign exchange reserves.
Overall, the World Bank's support was instrumental in kick-starting post-war
reconstruction and in narrowing the GDP per capita gap between the South and the
Centre-North of Italy. The programme proved successful, and in the period 1951-65
Italy's real economic growth averaged 6 per cent per year, while GDP per capita in the
South rose from 50 per cent to 60 per cent of that in the Centre-North.
In the decades that followed, Italy became a major donor. Its cumulative contribution to
the paid-in capital of the World Bank Group amounts to about $1 billion. Since 1960,
when the fund for the low-income countries (International Development Association,
IDA) was created, Italy has supported all 20 IDA Replenishments with more than $12.4
billion.
The World Bank Group adds significant value through its financial leverage and the
knowledge it brings to joint high-impact projects and programmes.
But Italy's contribution and support to the Group is far more than financial. Italy - and
with it Banca d'Italia - actively contributes to the governance of the World Bank through
its daily participation in the Board of Executive Directors.
The World Bank Rome Office is a key component of this collaboration. Banca d'Italia
has proudly supported it over the years, most recently when we offered it a new, larger
location. We expect the Rome Office to be a catalyst for fostering collaboration among
the various entities within the World Bank Group, and to provide a space for closer
engagement with external stakeholders, including partnerships with the Italian
authorities.
We also expect that the new Rome Office will become a vibrant knowledge hub,
bringing its expertise to key development operations in Africa.
Africa's development is critical to achieving the World Bank's own goals of poverty
eradication and shared prosperity, but it is also essential to a stable global economy
and to providing a future for the hundreds of millions of young people who join Africa's
workforce each year. Finally, it would also help alleviate the inevitable migratory
pressures.
Italy's position - at the crossroads of the Mediterranean - makes it uniquely well-placed
to play an important role in the development of the African continent. The recently
launched 'Piano Mattei' reaffirms Italy's commitment to the common goal of fighting
poverty, reducing inequalities and promoting sustainable growth, while addressing
pressing global challenges such as climate change, pandemics and migration.
It demonstrates Italy's intention to promote high-impact operations in partnership with
Africa.
Banca d'Italia is ready to work with the World Bank, putting its skills and expertise at the
service of promoting development in emerging countries, especially in Africa.
* * *
Today's conference is an important occasion for developing comprehensive and
effective engagement with African countries.
I would like to thank the organizers for putting together an impressive programme. I
would also like to thank the keynote speakers, the panellists, the moderators and all of
you for attending.
I look forward to hearing from President Banga, Governor Kalyalya and Governor
Kganyago.
The thematic panels - on energy, jobs and digital infrastructure - will delve into some of
the key aspects of any growth process and highlight the strategies needed to stimulate
investment in these sectors.
If we are to build a more balanced, stable and prosperous global economy, then Africa's
challenges cannot but also be the world's challenges.
While we will not resolve all the issues on the table today, I am confident that our
discussions will help deepen our understanding of the complex matters at stake and
identify viable ways forward.
Together, through open dialogue and cooperation, we can move closer to fostering a
future that benefits not only Africa, but the global community as a whole.
1
The loans granted by the World Bank, subdivided into eight (different) tranches from
1951 to 1965, amounted to about $400 million. The idea of acting on the economy as a
whole, and not on single projects - was established on the basis of the 'Big Push'
theory, a brainchild of Paul Rosenstein-Rodan, who suggested the adoption of
nonfragmented interventions to provide, within a reasonable timeframe, the big push
onwards needed in order to kick-start the policies for the development of Southern Italy.