What the Star’s Nancy Agutu asked President Biden

The Star Kenya

The Star’s digital deputy editor Nancy Agutu had her moment at the  White House when she got a chance to ask President Joe Biden a question during a news conference. https://rb.gy/37cb26

Transcript

00:00Let me ask Nancy Agutu from Kenya, she's here, okay, Nancy.

00:08President, Africa is asking America to lead the way and double its contribution to the

00:14World Bank's International Development Assistance to help developing countries access more financing,

00:20to alleviate debt distress, and to tackle climate change.

00:23What is your commitment on this? Thank you.

00:27I'm sorry, I didn't catch all your question.

00:30Sorry, I'm saying Africa is asking America to lead the way and double its contribution

00:35to the World Bank's International Development Assistance to help developing countries

00:40to access financing, to alleviate debt distress, and to tackle climate change.

00:47What is your commitment on this?

00:49We made a major commitment to this.

00:51Number one, as I said, the United States has long championed international financial institutions

00:57that provide low-cost concessional resources to the poorest developing countries,

01:02including from the IMF.

01:05To that end, my administration helped design and establish the IMF's new initiative

01:09that provides low-cost funding for countries that are taking steps to enhance their resilience.

01:15Important partners in Africa have the capital they need to invest in their futures.

01:23We heard them and we stand with them.

01:25Now, that's why we've worked with Congress to enable the United States to make available

01:30in the coming weeks up to $21 billion in new lending resources to the IMF trust fund

01:37that provides concessional lending to the poorest countries.

01:41It's a little like, you know, having to go when you're in debt,

01:44having to go and find someone to help you out.

01:46That's what this is about.

01:48We believe supporting friends in this partnership is happy, we're happy to do our part.

01:54And look, we've also doubled our commitment to the IDA,

02:00and I'm proud the United States is the biggest donor of the IDA in this cycle.

02:04And I'm proud to be working alongside Kenya to support robust financing and policy packages

02:10that are going to help the most vulnerable countries address their investment needs.

02:15There's debt and there's growth.

02:17And you've got to deal with the debt before you deal with the growth.

02:20And so we're trying to use international lending organizations

02:25to be able to provide that capability so people can grow.

02:29That's what it's about.

02:34For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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