He warned that such an “unfair” arrangement would make it extremely difficult for the LDCs to meet the 2030 Agenda for 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Speaking in Doha, the capital of the State of Qatar, at the UN Conference of Least Developed Countries, Buhari also called on developed and developing nations to grant duty-free and quota-free market access for products originating from the world’s 46 LDCs to ensure their integration in regional and global value chains.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, revealed this in a statement he signed on Monday titled ‘President Buhari calls for duty-free market access for least developed countries, criticises ‘unsustainable external debt burden’.
The United Nations identifies 46 economies, mostly in Africa, as the least developed countries.
The designation entitles them to preferential market access, special technical assistance, aid, and capacity-building on technology, among other benefits.
Reviewed every three years, some countries on the current list include Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Myanmar, Nepal, Timor-Leste and Yemen.
Also on the list are Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi and Mali.
Others include Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Haiti, Kiribati, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu.
Explaining the rising debt burden on the vulnerable nations, the President called for swift reforms of the international financial architecture that prioritises the need for LDCs.
He aligned with the United Nations Secretary-General’s description on the global financial system as an “unfair debt architecture that not only charges poor countries much more money to borrow on the market than advanced economies, but downgrades them when they even think of restructuring their debt or applying for debt relief.”
According to the President, “The possibility of achieving the SDGs remains bleak for many countries, particularly, the Least Developed Countries.
“The difficulties in achieving the SDGs are numerous and were further compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, the continued threat of Climate Change, and recently the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
‘‘The Least Developed Countries are often faced with developmental vulnerabilities and challenges that are not always of their making. These pose huge obstacles to their development efforts, hence the need for urgent and robust assistance to help unlock their potentials and build socio-economic resilience.”
This assistance, Buhari argued, can be provided within the framework of the Doha Programme of Action which is designed to help LDCs exit their current classification.
Therefore, he challenged developed countries, civil society actors, the organised private sector and the business community, to partner with the LDCs to provide the necessary resources and capacity to deliver development outcomes in the economic, social, and environmental aspects of the 2030 Agenda.
Buhari said some measures that will help LDCs recover from COVID-19 and achieve SDGs, include policy and budgetary provisions equipped to ensure equal access to medicare and vaccines, for both the poor and the rich alike.
On trade, he argued that it is vital to establish modalities to facilitate transit cooperation, transfer of technologies and access to global e-commerce platforms, as they are critical for the integration of LDCs into the regional and global value chains and communications technology services.
He said, Nigeria, though not one of the LDCs, is at the conference to “show solidarity and support to the” nations concerned.
The President commended the State of Qatar for hosting the Conference and thanked the Emir, Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, for inviting him.
He also thanked the UN for its excellent organisation of the conference and its continued support for the LDCs.
