African countries are fed up with being marginalised in global institutions

There wasIMF UN no shortage of bigwigs at a development-finance pow-wow hosted by Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, in Paris on June 22nd to discuss pressing global issues including World Bank reform, climate finance and . The expected attendees at the Summit for a New Global Financial Pact included Li Qiang, the Chinese premier, Janet Yellen, America’s treasury secretary, and no fewer than 16 African presidents.Africa’s large presence reflects a fear that the continent is being short-changed as priorities shift towards helping Ukraine and dealing with climate change. That is feeding a deeper anger—that the continent has too little say in global institutions such as the World Bank, the and the, and that some of the proposed reforms could again leave Africa out in the cold. “When decision-makers are quite far from the realities of the country it’s more difficult to build empathy,” says Vera Daves, Angola’s finance minister. “That’s why it so important for us [Africans] to be more present within the institutions.”