1. The World Bank

The World Bank was instituted in 1944 but was formerly known as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The organisation was formed under the mandate of the United Nations through its member states. The United Nation’s Monetary and Financial Conference – also known as the Bretton Woods Conference was the birth venue for the World Bank (Clemens & Kremer, 2016). The institution did not officially operate until 1946 when it was formerly instituted after the Second World War.

The initial objective of the institution was to enhance reconstruction of member states who had suffered severely as a result of the Second World War. Therefore, to achieve the purpose, the World Bank served as a financial aid institution. It offered investments in infrastructural projects in developing countries: these included roads, dams and water and sewerage facilities (World Bank, 2019). Since then, the institution’s goals have changed to accommodate world issues especially those in developing nations. The goals have shifted towards fighting poverty, supporting economic growth as well as ensuring human sustenance within the targeted nations. The goals are impacted by more than 180 countries globally. Additionally, factors including climate change, forced migration and pandemics encompass the new goals.

Currently, the World Bank has several projects in Africa including Liberia and Guinea. In Liberia, the institution is running the Liberia Youth Opportunities Project Additional Financing project. The project is estimated to cost USD 3.5 million and was approved in 2019 (World Bank, 2019). The project seeks to improve empowerment outlook for the youth in Liberia who suffer from unemployment, poverty and lack of proper education. Additionally, the institution supports the Guinea federal government’s financial resource management through the Guinea Support to Local Governance Project. The project was approved in 2019 with an estimated cost of USD 40 million (World Bank, 2019).

1. International Monetary Fund

The International Monetary Fund was initiated as a result of the Bretton Woods System agreement in 1944. The IMF nonetheless, came into existence in 1945 in December. This was as a result of twenty-nine countries agreeing to the ratification of the Bretton Woods System Articles of Agreement (Reinhart & Trebesch, 2016). The International Monetary Fund was initially formed in New Hampshire in the United States following forty-five representatives of various governments from across the world meeting for the Bretton Woods Conference.

The initial goal of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was to safeguard the international pecuniary collaboration seeking to stabilise the coinage exchange rates and global liquidity to member states under the United Nations (IMF, 2019). The goals changed over time. The IMF consequently was required to reduce the regularity and the sternness of balance-of-payments deficits. Currently, the IMF’s goals have not changed as much. The institution still ensures the firmness of the intercontinental monetary structure. It provides security by monitoring the exchange rates and international payments that enable nations to manage with each other. Therefore, the primary objective is to follow the macroeconomic and financial sector issues around the world to bear global stability.

The IMF conducts several projects in Africa among them the Japan-funded Project to Improve External Sector Statistics in Central and West African Countries. The purpose of the scheme is to augment the exogenous sector data quality ensuring that there is a balance of payments, increased international investment and improved debt statistics (IMF, 2019). The project seeks to benefit nineteen francophone countries in Africa. Another project is the IMF project to Help Africa Crack Down on Illicit Diamond Trade. The IMF will provide funding and technical assistance to tackle the issue, and this would benefit 16 sub-Saharan African countries.

1. United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy approved the Foreign Assistance Act that led to the United States Agency for International Development formation. The institutionalisation of the USAID was as a result of the Marshall Plan under the Secretary of State, George C. Marshall (Fabre, Pallage, & Zimmermann, 2017). The idea was to rebuild Europe based on its infrastructure and strengthen its economy. The USAID institution was formulated in the White House as a result of the enactment of the Foreign Assistance Act under President Kennedy.

The initial goal of the institution was to provide developmental assistance to America and its allies. However, a decade later, in the 1970s, USAID changed its focus towards basic human needs. The reason for the shift was due to the reduction in the standard of living which included a surge in diseases and poor nutrition. Therefore, the institution’s approach entailed improved food and nutrition, populace planning, wellbeing, education and people development. USAID in the 1980s changed its goals to free markets. The reason was to stabilise the monies and financial organizations. In the 1990s, the institution changed its focus on sustainability and democracy (Fabre, Pallage, & Zimmermann, 2017). The reason was to help developing countries improve the quality of life. Therefore, the institution tailored programs suited for the developing nations including assistance packages and aid countries during transitions.

USAID currently supports the Cashew Cooperative in Cote D’Ivoire Lands Commercial Financing Project. The scheme provides financial assistance to farmers and cooperative linked to cashew farming to improve production capacities. Besides, USAID also supports the Countering Violent Extremism in Chad through Theatre (Fabre, Pallage, & Zimmermann, 2017). The project seeks to empower the locals to embrace peace and resolution to limit civil violence that has plagued the country for generations.

References

Clemens, M. A., & Kremer, M. (2016). The new role for the World Bank. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 30(1), 53-76.

Reinhart, C. M., & Trebesch, C. (2016). The international monetary fund: 70 years of reinvention. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 30(1), 3-28.

IMF. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2/4/2019 https://www.imf.org/external/

World Bank. The World Bank. Retrieved 2/4/2019 http://www.worldbank.org/en/region/afr/projects

Fabre, A., Pallage, S., & Zimmermann, C. (2017). US Agency for International Development (USAID). The American Middle Class: An Economic Encyclopedia of Progress and Poverty [2 volumes], 316.