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.
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.
All About The 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.
