linah k mohohlo : the financial crisis – impact on africa remarks by ms linah k mohohlo, governor of the bank of botswana and a member of the african progess panel ( app ), on behalf of the app chairman at the meeting on “ the financial crisis : impact on africa ”, tunis, tunisia, 12 november 2008. * * * i wish to begin by tendering profound apologies from the chairman of the africa progress panel, mr kofi annan, who is unable to be a part of this meeting due to overlapping commitments. he is particularly disappointed by his inability to attend as today ’ s meeting is taking place partly as a result of conversations between him and the president of the african development bank ( adb ), dr kaberuka. i have, therefore, been asked and accepted to speak on his behalf and on behalf of the other members of the africa progress panel. 1 for those who may not know, the africa progress panel exists to monitor, encourage and support african countries and their development partners in taking specific steps to advance social, economic and political progress in africa. in this context, this meeting is both significant and timely, and president kaberuka deserves commendation for taking the initiative to get us together. the africa progress panel welcomes, in particular, the collaborative approach being taken by the adb, the african union and the economic commission for africa. this will underpin the meeting ’ s capacity to provide input for upcoming critical events, such as the g20 meeting that is tenable in washington dc on november 15, and the doha meeting on international finance scheduled for the end of november. to that end, the africa progress panel would be delighted if this meeting resulted in a “ tunis communique ” which would provide guidance on how the global financial crisis can be managed in a manner supportive of progress in africa and its achievement of the millennium development goals. it is to be hoped that such a communique would recognise the africa progress panel ’ s main concerns. first, it is worth noting that when crises of the nature currently unfolding occur, it is always the least responsible that are usually the worst affected and the least able to cope. in other words, it is the poor who end up paying the heaviest price for the mess they had no hand in creating. hence we must encourage a stronger and shared understanding, in both africa and in global fora, of how the financial meltdown might affect our continent. at the

mario draghi : atlantic council remarks speech by mr mario draghi, president of the european central bank, at the 2015 atlantic council global citizen award, new york, 1 october 2015. * * * ladies and gentlemen, thank you for honouring me today with this global citizen award. and thank you also for honouring, through me, all those who have worked – and continue to work – to maintain the cohesion of the european union, and to bring its integration process closer to completion. the fate of europe is naturally of immediate interest to its citizens. but it is also indeed of direct relevance to the world at large. the european union and its monetary union are regional projects with global implications. this is firstly due to the size of europe in the global economy. though the euro area has not made a major contribution to world growth over the past seven or eight years, it nonetheless accounts for 17 % of global gdp and 16 % of global trade. when the integrity of the euro area was under threat, so too was global prosperity. christine lagarde, who has chaired many imf gatherings where the first topic under discussion was the euro area, can testify to that. by the same token, the return of the euro area economy to sustained growth, under the impulse of our monetary policy, is good news for everybody, everywhere. to my mind, however, there is another reason why the euro area is crucially relevant to the global economy. it comes from the fact that european integration is by far the most advanced experiment in managing issues that cut across borders, through a combination of international and supranational arrangements. 65 years ago, the founders of the eu decided that we could only achieve results if we were united in facing common problems. at the time, the problem was war and the objective was peace. and it worked. but now, the nature of the many challenges we face shows how right this approach fundamentally was : think of migrants seeking refuge in our countries, the threat of terrorism, the consequences of climate change, the recent succession of financial and economic crises. and these challenges are not specific to europe. they are global. i am certainly not suggesting that the path followed by europe to manage them is replicable at a global level. but the experience we have gathered, the experimentation with supranationalism, the failures and the successes, all carry invaluable information for those involved in managing global issues. it may seem at times that we in europe