## This Time It’s Different

_IMF Blog, March 12, 2010_

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**Canonical URL:** [This Time It’s Different](https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2010/03/12/this-time-its-different)

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## Bibliographic details
- Authors: Dominique Strauss-Kahn
- Published: March 12, 2010

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### Context and visit
- Author: Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
- Date: March 12, 2010
- Final destination of visit: Zambia (town hall with civil society, students, and the media)
- Key snapshot: Zambia growth was 6.3 percent in 2009 and the outlook for 2010 appears positive.

### Major themes from Africa visit
- Theme 1 — Improved macroeconomic resilience
  - Many African countries pursued sound economic policies over the past decade or so.
  - Those policies helped buffer Africa from the worst of the global crisis, even though the crisis still affected the continent.
  - Recommendation implied: strengthen the sound policies that reduced vulnerability.

- Theme 2 — Governance and civil society
  - Governance emerged prominently in public discussions across Kenya, South Africa, and Zambia.
  - Civil society in Africa "has found its voice" and calls for:
    - accountability
    - transparency
    - action against corruption
  - Distinction noted: talking about governance versus taking action on governance.
  - Policy implication: governments should heed civil society to improve moral/political standing and governance effectiveness.

- Theme 3 — Africa’s global linkages and external relations
  - Africa’s relationship with the world is increasingly important in the 21st century.
  - Africa was described as an “innocent victim” of the crisis: weak initial financial linkages limited early exposure, but deeper effects arrived via investment, trade, and aid reductions.
  - Lesson: no country is immune from global shocks.
  - Specific point on China:
    - The role of China in Africa arose in discussions in all three visited countries.
    - Zambia’s relationship with China dates to the 1970s and the building of the TAZARA railroad.
    - More recent intensification: Chinese investment in Zambia and in Africa primarily in the mining and construction sectors.
    - Assessment: Chinese investment is to be welcomed, but all foreign investment should "make economic sense from the African perspective—and be fair."

### IMF role, actions, and recommendations
- Perceptions and recent IMF actions noted:
  - The stereotype of the IMF as “the bad guy” persists in some quarters.
  - Recent IMF changes highlighted:
    - the tripling of our lending to sub-Saharan Africa, at zero interest rates, to help them weather the crisis
    - the streamlining of conditionality
    - the emphasis on countercyclical policy and the preservation of public spending, particularly for the social sectors
- Two forward-looking needs for the IMF:
  - the IMF needs to strengthen even further its policy advice in Africa
  - it must communicate and engage even more to counter the outdated image of the Fund, and to build a better understanding of who we really are today—and that the IMF is Africa’s institution
- Overall judgment: the IMF has "a way to go" in strengthening its partnership with Africa but the journey is well under way.

### Key statistic
- Zambia GDP growth: 6.3 percent in 2009

*Source: This Time It’s Different — Dominique Strauss-Kahn, March 12, 2010.*

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## References

- [sound economic policies](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/survey/so/2010/NEW021810A.htm)
- [policy agenda](http://blogs.imf.org/2010/03/09/africa-is-back/)
- [role of China in Africa](http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2008/03/wang.htm)
- [major changes that the IMF has undertaken](http://blogs.imf.org/2010/03/07/imf%e2%80%94delivering-on-promises-to-africa/)
- [Something New Out of Africa: A Global Player](http://blogs.imf.org/2010/03/10/1223/)

_Source: https://www.imf.org/en/blogs/articles/2010/03/12/this-time-its-different_