Cameroon’s President, Paul Biya, is currently in Paris, France for a two-day Global Financial Pact Summit which started on June 22.
The nearly 100 world leaders present at the event will try to “set a course towards a more balanced financial partnership between the South and the North”, in light of macroeconomic, social, and environmental challenges facing the world, in general, and Africa, especially.
The event is themed: “Strengthening finance for the least developed and most vulnerable countries to change”. This resonates with concerns recently expressed by Paul Biya. Pollution is one of these concerns and Biya believes that since developing countries pollute very little, they should “benefit from richer countries that pollute a lot.” The Cameroonian leader voiced this opinion at the 72nd UN General Assembly while discussing the implications of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
On the same note, Paul Biya was much more explicit while presenting his wishes to the diplomatic corps accredited to Cameroon in January 2023. “It is now up to developed countries to honor their commitments, specifically the creation of a $100 billion fund in favor of vulnerable countries, to compensate for the losses and damages they suffer due to climate change,” the President told foreign diplomats.
On December 12, 2022, during a roundtable organized on the sidelines of the USA-Africa summit, Paul Biya advocated for the establishment of a global financing mechanism adapted to Africa’s challenges. At the time, the leader suggested: “It would be desirable to work towards the establishment of a true African capital market, capable of offering tools adapted to financing Africa’s development. This will enable its structural transformation and gradual independence from development aid and export credits”
