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All About the International Monetary Fund Africa

All About the International Monetary Fund Africa

The three oldest African countries invested in The International Monetary Fund are Egypt, Ethiopia and South Africa joining on Thursday, December 27, 1945.

The IMF oversees the international monetary system and monitors the economic and financial policies of its 189 member countries. In regards to voting, the IMF was designed to reflect the relative positions of its member countries in the global economy.

Headquartered in Washington, D.C., The International Monetary Fund, IMF, was conceived at a United Nations conference in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, United States, in July 1944 with 44 member countries.

IMF was created in 1945 and is now an organization of 189 countries whose primary purpose is to ensure the stability of the international monetary system—the system of exchange rates and international payments that enables countries and their citizens to transact with each other.

At the top of the IMF, the organizational structure is the Board of Governors, consisting of one governor and one alternate governor from each member country, usually the top officials from the central bank or finance ministry.

The day-to-day work of the IMF is overseen by its 24-member Executive Board, which represents the entire membership and is guided by the International Monetary and Financial Committee, or IMFC, and supported by the IMF staff.

Christine Lagarde is the first woman to head the IMF in the 65 years of the organization’s history. Lagarde took over the helm of the IMF in July 2011 replacing Dominique Strauss-Kahn, another French politician, who resigned as head of the IMF following his arrest on charges of attempted rape in New York.

IMF initial purpose was to promote international monetary cooperation; facilitate the expansion and balanced growth of international trade; promote exchange stability; assist in the establishment of a multilateral system of payments; and make resources available with adequate safeguards to members experiencing a balance of payments difficulties.

IMF principal borrowers, amounts outstanding as of 8/31/16 are Portugal, Greece, Ukraine, and Pakistan. The IMF also provides technical assistance and training to help member countries build better economic associations and strengthen social management.

The IMF initial assigning of votes is based on quotas related to economic criteria. These quotas or measures are based upon an exceedingly complex formula that takes into account relative economic strength factors of countries comparable in size and population with the gross domestic product, external reserves, and diversity of exports.

The IMF is funded by a charge known as a quota paid by member nations; total quotas are US $668 billion as of 9/13/16. The quota is based on a country's wealth and it determines voting power within the organization; those making higher contributions have greater voting rights.

Votes are held rarely, but are very important with the election of executive directors, special majorities, and adoption of decisions, to adjust quotas, establish a council, and allocate Special Drawing Rights.

The IMF gives each country 250 basic votes, with weighted voting of one additional vote for each part of a nation's economic quota or measure equivalent to US$100,000 Special Drawing Rights international reserve asset that was created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement member country official reserves.

The outcome of the economic the formula given by the IMF is used to determine the number of shares allotted to each new member country of the bank. The IMF undertakes regular reviews of its quota resources and allocations.

The latest review, the Fourteenth General Quota Review finished in 2010 and included an agreement to double quota resources to the U.S. $677 billion. The IMF aims to complete the 15th review by the Spring Meetings of 2019 and no later than the Annual Meetings in the fall of 2019.

International Monetary Fund Africa

All About The International Monetary Fund in Africa


International Monetary Fund in Africa

IMF African Country Date of IMF Membership
Algeria Thursday, September 26, 1963
Angola Tuesday, September 19, 1989
Benin Friday, January 5, 2018
Botswana Wednesday, July 24, 1968
Burkina Faso Friday, February 10, 2017
Burundi Saturday, September 28, 1963
Cabo Verde Monday, November 20, 1978
Cameroon Thursday, December 3, 2015
Central African Republic Wednesday, August 10, 2016
Chad Wednesday, July 10, 1963
The Democratic Republic of the Congo Saturday, September 28, 1963
Republic of Congo Wednesday, July 10, 1963
Côte d'Ivoire Monday, March 11, 1963
Djibouti Friday, December 29, 1978
Egypt Thursday, December 27, 1945
Equatorial Guinea Monday, December 22, 1969
Eritrea Wednesday, July 6, 1994
Ethiopia Thursday, December 27, 1945
Gabon Tuesday, September 10, 1963
The Gambia Thursday, September 21, 1967
Ghana Friday, September 20, 1957
Guinea Saturday, September 28, 1963
Guinea-Bissau Thursday, March 24, 1977
Kenya Monday, February 3, 1964
Lesotho Thursday, July 25, 1968
Liberia Wednesday, March 28, 1962
Libya Wednesday, September 17, 1958
Madagascar Wednesday, September 25, 1963
Malawi Monday, July 19, 1965
Mali Friday, September 27, 1963
Mauritania Tuesday, September 10, 1963
Mauritius Monday, September 23, 1968
Morocco Friday, April 25, 1958
Mozambique Monday, September 24, 1984
Namibia Tuesday, September 25, 1990
Niger Wednesday, April 24, 1963
Nigeria Thursday, March 30, 1961
Rwanda Monday, September 30, 1963
São Tomé and Príncipe Friday, September 30, 1977
Senegal Friday, August 31, 1962
Seychelles Thursday, June 30, 1977
Sierra Leone Monday, September 10, 1962
Somalia Monday, February 27, 2017
South Africa Thursday, December 27, 1945
South Sudan Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Sudan Thursday, September 5, 1957
eSwatini Monday, September 22, 1969
Tanzania Monday, September 10, 1962
Togo Wednesday, August 1, 1962
Tunisia Monday, April 14, 1958
Uganda Friday, September 27, 1963
Zambia Thursday, September 23, 1965
Zimbabwe Monday, September 29, 1980


Did you know?

Where the IMF gets its resources and how they are used, most resources for IMF loans are provided by member countries, primarily through their payment of quotas.

Quotas Quota subscriptions are a central component of the IMF’s financial resources. Each member country of the IMF is assigned a quota, based broadly on its relative position in the world economy.

Special Drawing Rights (SDR) The SDR is an international reserve asset, created by the IMF in 1969 to supplement its member countries’ official reserves.

Gold Gold remains an important asset in the reserve holdings of several countries, and the IMF is still one of the world’s largest official holders of gold.

Borrowing arrangements While quota subscriptions of member countries are the IMF's main source of financing, the Fund can supplement its quota resources through borrowing if it believes that they might fall short of members' needs.
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