Niger's Bazoum emphasizes education for post-COVID relief

DW:  Why was this summit important and what are your expectations?

French President Emmanuel Macron initiated this summit, bringing together African presidents, donors, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organization, the African Development Bank, as well as major international institutions to take action on the COVID-19 pandemic.

This pandemic, even if it has not been as prevalent on the African continent as in Europe and elsewhere in the world, has had serious economic effects on the most vulnerable parts of Africa.

Some countries, especially rich ones like China, have the financial means to solve their economic problems by using their enormous economic resources.

Unfortunately, African countries will not be able to resolve all the damage caused by COVID-19. Thus, it is a matter of starting a program that allows us to start solving the problems and establish a post-pandemic financial recovery plan.

The first thing we decided is to provide full authorization for patents. This would give African countries a better chance of fighting COVID-19. Already South Africa, Senegal and Rwanda have expressed ambitions of manufacturing vaccines domestically.

Secondly, there are funds in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) that serve as reserves. We can use these SDRs worth 34 billion dollars, which are intended for us.

It is necessary to unblock these IMF funds, which are reserved for 34 African countries, that would make it possible to solve our problems partly. We also ask rich countries to reallocate their SDRs, which they do not intend to use to help our countries.

France, Portugal, and some of the countries that attended this summit have agreed to reallocate their SDRs. We hope that China and the United States will also agree.

DW: How would Niger benefit from this reallocation?

We intend to carry out major projects with our SDRs. These include building roads and improving the quality of our healthcare system. We also want to promote education. One of my administration's priorities is to build boarding schools for girls in rural schools to keep them in school for a long time and prevent early marriage.

We will provide our governance systems with all the necessary resources they need.

DW: Why do you emphasize education?

For 10 years, my party has invested a lot in this area. For a radical change to happen, a good education is necessary and that's why I'm so insistent.

In a country like ours, young people need to be trained and educated. It is important to note that young girls of 12 or 13 years tend to give up, or are forced to give up, school. And once out of school, they are often led into marriage.

DW: What about the rate of investment in education under your administration?

The budget is huge, and will increase. We, and the donors who have promised to stick with us, are not afraid to invest in education, because this is the fundamental basis for a country and its development.